Paroled Teen Punk

The police have apprehended a suspect in the slaying we noted the other day.

The Times sets the scene:

A 19-year-old parolee who was prowling with childhood friends on the Lower East Side early on Thursday morning has been charged with murdering a young actress who talked back to them as they robbed her companions, the police said yesterday.

The police said that the arrest of the man, Rudy Fleming, came after detectives received tips from people who had heard that he and at least four friends were involved in the shooting.

Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Fleming was openly weeping in the back seat of an unmarked car as detectives drove him away from the offices of the Manhattan South homicide squad.

But the Post cuts to the chase:

Police yesterday busted a paroled teen punk who allegedly shot aspiring actress Nicole duFresne — but the crybaby put on his own performance, moaning and complaining that he was sick, while taking no responsibility for the coldblooded slaying.

Rudy Fleming, 19, “was whining like a little girl,” a law-enforcement source scoffed.

New York Post: Piazza Not Gay, Getting Married to Prove It

Not only is Mike Piazza not gay but, as the Post reports, he’s getting married, which should settle all that nonsense, so to speak:

Mike Piazza is getting hitched.

The Mets catcher is walking down the aisle with his longtime girl friend, “Baywatch” babe and former Playmate Alicia Rickter, in Miami during the last weekend in January, sources said yesterday.

. . .

The marriage should finally put an end to those unfounded rumors that Piazza is a switch hitter. During the 2002 season, the perennial All-Star called an unprecedented news conference to explicitly state he is not gay.

“The truth is that I’m heterosexual and date women,” he said.

[Another Playmate, Darlene] Bernaola, the former Playmate of the Millennium [one of a “bevy of babes” Piazza was “known to have homered with”], knew it all along.

“Our sex life was very, very healthy,” she said at the time.

More about the bride:

The beautiful brunette was a Killian’s beer spokesmodel at the time [the two met], while Piazza was often seen around town with beautiful women.

. . .

The two are self-described homebodies — and metalheads, who love hard rock — although Piazza sometimes hits the clubs as hard as he hits baseballs.

He used to be a regular at 14th Street hotspot Lotus until Mets players started boycotting it after one of the team’s second-stringers was refused entrance.

Best wishes to Piazza!

Orbacize Me!

Or, The (Jerry) Orbachization of law enforcement. Or the Briscotion Elocution. I digresss. Point being, these guys are getting good. Almost to the point where the Post headline just writes itself — “Cops Stop Drug Spread of Mayo”:

An extended family with the name “Mayo” — including six siblings and their kids — have been nabbed for spreading tens of millions of dollars in crack across the city over the last 20 years in an operation dubbed “Hold the Mayo,” law-enforcement sources said.

And that’s exactly what Magistrate Judge Marilyn Go did yesterday in Brooklyn federal court when she denied bail for accused ringleader Ronald Mayo and his 10 relatives at an arraignment on conspiracy charges that could land them life sentences.

The Mayos are also under investigation for numerous shootings and robberies dating back to the early 1980s, according to sources.

“Hopefully the moral of this story will be the family that does crime together does time together,” said Anthony Placido of the DEA. [Emphasis added]

That last quote is straight out of Law & Order — Detective Lennie Briscoe lives!

Best Post Headline Ever?

“‘Hookers’ Relish Wieners”:

Long Island cops have busted two women who were selling hot dogs — and themselves — from a food truck parked along a busy stretch of Sunrise Highway, authorities said.

Rose Skorge, 34, and Catherina Scalia, 38, were charged yesterday with prostitution.

According to police, Scalia and Skorge started parking in Baldwin about four months ago and sold hot dogs, chips and sodas to dozens of unsuspecting customers from the front of the truck — and sex in the back.

When they spotted a potential consumer for their other business, they would first offer to strip, and then, if the man appeared to be craving something more, take it to the next level, according to cops.

“We’ve never seen hot dogs mixed with prostitution before,” Deputy Inspector Rick Capece said. “There are so many jokes, so little time.”

Acting on a tip, a police officer visited the truck and was propositioned, cops said.

Capece said that Scalia offered to reveal a part of her body for $50. When the officer declined, Scalia allegedly said that Skorge would perform a sex act for the same $50.

When the officer again balked, Scalia promised additional services from Skorge for the same $50, cops said.

In the back of the truck was a captain’s chair and a couch, where Capece said the sex acts would take place.

And they weren’t even tidy about their legitimate business — open bags of chips were scattered around. “It’s certainly not the most sanitary hot dog truck I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Scalia, who lives in Rockville Centre, told police she’s only a stripper and that Skorge, of Merrick, was the one turning tricks in the back of the truck.

Cards for the stripper service littered the truck. On the cards, the women went by the names “Diamond” and “Roxy” and the business was called “Double Delicious,” a possible reference to their hot dog sidelight.