By Thomas Tracy
With hopes that the famed Saville Inquiry is about to be unsealed, members of the Bay Ridge Irish American Action Committee are preparing to once again march for the 14 souls killed on Bloody Sunday. The 34th Annual Bloody Sunday march will kick off at 12:30 p.m. on February 12 at the corner of 58th Street and 4th Avenue. A memorial mass where mourners will remember those lost during “the Troubles,” and pray for lasting peace in Ireland as well as justice for the Bloody Sunday Victims will take place at Our Lady Of Perpetual Help Basilica, at the corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street, at 1 p.m., organizers said. Bloody Sunday recalls the horrific assault on peace protesters at the hands of British paratroopers in Derry, Ireland, back on January 30, 1972. According to the history books, a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march of 20,000 citizens had been organized to call for equality for the Catholic minority in the country’s segregated northern end. At the time, Catholic marchers followed the example set by Dr. Martin Luther King as they let their voices and staunch determination serve as tools for change instead of their weapons or fists. Claiming that the protesters were armed, members of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment blocked the march, moved in and opened fire on the crowd, killing 14 men and injuring 13 more. Nearly half of those killed were under 18 years old, protesters said. To this day, the British government has yet to apologize to the relatives of those killed on Bloody Sunday. The closest thing was an admission by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said that their paratroopers “shot indiscriminately into the crowd.” Blair ordered a new investigation into the massacre. That investigation, called the Saville Inquiry, should be entering its final phase this month, according to those keeping tabs on the investigation. However, family members of those killed back in 1972 have been told that the inquiry was close to completion last August. Officials handling the Inquiry said that because they had to view so much material, they did not know exactly when the official report would be unsealed. “It is very important to remember what happened,” said Mary Nolan, one of the organizers of the protest. “The majority of those killed were in their teens. They were young people who wanted to bring a peaceful resolution to their lives. But the massacre set the whole process back. To this day, there is still a lot of sadness and hatred for the Brits.” While many still demand justice for the Derry 14, many residents continue to participate in the Bloody Sunday march in order to keep the dreams of those peaceful protesters alive – a dream where everyone is treated as an equal. “It is important to remember the dreams that these young people had and lost that morning,” Nolan said. A Bloody Sunday march and memorial mass has been held every year by the Bay Ridge Irish American Association since 1972. It is the only memorial held outside of Northern Ireland on an annual basis. For more information, contact (718) 833-3405. COPS INVESTIGATE HIT AND RUN: Cops are looking for a hit and run driver who seriously injured a 22-year-old male at the corner of Kings Highway and Nostrand Avenue last week. Police said that the unidentified victim was walking into the intersection at 8 p.m. on February 2 when he was struck down by what witnesses described as a grey Lexus. Paramedics from the Hatzolah Volunteer Ambulance Corps took the victim to Kings County Hospital with severe head trauma. His condition was not known as this paper went to press. Police said that it appeared that the Lexus was heading toward Marine Park as he escaped the scene. Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to come forward. Calls can be made to either the 70th Precinct at (718) 851-5511 or the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. *** NOTE-PASSING BANDIT ROBS…SHOE STORE: Cops are scratching their heads over a recent robbery at the Fabco shoe store at 1410 Kings Highway, especially since all of the evidence points to a bank robber. Officials said that the suspect, a 49-year-old white male, entered the store at 5:30 p.m. on February 3 and showed a worker a note, as if he were robbing a bank. In the note, the man claimed that he had a gun and that she should hand over all of the $100s, $50s, and $20s she had. The suspect fled the scene with $850 in receipts, said officials. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to come forward. Calls can be made to the 61st Precinct at (718) 627-6611. All calls will be kept confidential. *** TWO SERIOUSLY INJURED AFTER RUN-IN WITH WALL: Two people were rushed to Kings County Hospital after the car they were in slammed into a wall near the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue S. Officials said that the horrid collision took place at about 11:30 p.m. on February 2 when the driver lost control of the car as it angled off the road onto the sidewalk. Both occupants were found trapped and seriously injured when firefighters and members of the Flatlands Volunteer Ambulance Corps arrived at the scene. Firefighters had to use the “jaws of life” to tear off the top of the vehicle and free the two occupants, said officials. Officials said that the victims were listed in stable condition following treatment at Kings County Hospital. *** RECKLESS ROAD WARRIOR BUSTED: A motorist from Kensington was arrested on reckless endangerment charges last week when he was spotted peeling out from a restaurant near the corner of Avenue S and Coney Island Avenue, officials alleged. Police allege that as Adam Gililov, 24, of the 460 block of Ocean Parkway, sped away from the restaurant at 9:30 p.m. on February 3, several pedestrians scrambled to get away from the car, apparently fearing for their lives as he barreled off into the night. Gililov was also charged with making lane changes without signaling and driving without a seat belt, officials said. *** JEWELRY TAKEN FROM HOME: A 26-year-old woman told police that someone broke into her apartment on Kings Highway, taking nearly $2,000 worth of jewelry, including a gold ring with a Muslim design in the center. Police said that the victim left her home, located at the 2600 block of Kings Highway, at 11:40 a.m. on February 2. When she returned home, she discovered that her front door was opened. The lock, the woman claimed, was removed. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward. Calls can be made to the 61st Precinct at (718) 627-6611. All calls will be kept confidential. *** MORE BAUBLES STOLEN: Cops from the 61st Precinct were probably still compiling evidence in the above case when a 36-year-old male called 911 the following day, claiming that someone had removed some jewelry from his home at the 2450 block of Stuart Street. The victim said that he left his home just after 9 a.m. on February 3. Sometime between the time he left and 6:30 p.m. that evening, a burglar entered the home through an open rear window, removing a set of diamond earrings and a gold necklace. Police are investigating. *** HOME INVASION INVESTIGATED: Three thugs raided a Midwood home last week, claiming to be looking for their 56-year-old victim’s father, officials said. Police from the 70th Precinct said that the trio went to the victim’s home, located on East 12th Street between Avenues J and K, at about 9:30 p.m. on January 27. Upon finding out that the man they were looking for wasn’t home, the suspects forced their way inside, said police. One of the men was armed with a knife, officials said. The other was armed with a gun. The suspects allegedly pistol-whipped their victim and robbed the home of $100. The victim was not seriously harmed, although he sustained a deep cut to his left cheek. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward. Calls can be made to the 70th Precinct at (718) 851-5511. All calls will be kept confidential. *** THOUSANDS IN CASH AND JEWELRY TAKEN: Thieves broke into an East 26th Street home last week, taking $2,000 in cash and thousands of dollars in jewelry, officials said. Police said that a laptop computer was also taken during the burglary, which took place between 10:20 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on January 25. The victim, a 25-year-old male, told police that there does not appear to be any forced entry, although he has two or three former roommates who still have keys to his home. Police are investigating. *** COPS: HELP CLEAN UP GRAFFITI WHILE EARNING SOME GREEN: As the ongoing war against graffiti vandals continues, cops are now offering up to $500 in reward money to anyone who can offer them information that can lead them to anyone who commits graffiti vandalism. The hefty reward is part of the city’s new push to rid New York of graffiti vandals. Graffiti is one of the leading quality of life complaints brought to police. Officials said that cleaning up graffiti is essential to the plan, to show that the community is no longer going to tolerate marred and tagged-up walls and street corners. According to police there is a perception that if a community will tolerate graffiti, they will tolerate other criminal activities, such as drug dealing and prostitution. Anyone with information about graffiti vandalism is urged to contact either 311 or 911. *** THUGS SOUGHT FOR BATH AVE. ROBBERY: A group of thugs brutally beat a 41-year-old man as he made his way to his car parked near the corner of Bath Avenue and Bay 14th Street last week, officials said. The thieves, described as white males in their twenties, surrounded the victim just after midnight on February 2 and demanded his money. When he refused, the suspects punched the victim in the face – knocking him to the ground – and then proceeded to punch and kick him relentlessly until one of the suspects pulled $800 from the victim’s pants pocket. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this robbery to come forward. Calls can be made to the 62nd Precinct at (718) 236-2611. All calls will be kept confidential. *** IT WASN’T MR. SANDMAN: A 79-year-old woman was woken up Saturday by a burglar asking her where she kept her pocketbook, cops from the 61st Precinct said. As of this writing, cops were still looking for the man who broke into the victim’s home, located on the 3200 block of Emmons Avenue just moments before 6:20 a.m. on February 4. The victim said that she was asleep when the suspect woke her up, demanded to know where she kept her purse and ran off with it. Police believe that the victim entered the home by cutting through a screened-in window. The thief grabbed the woman’s purse, which contained $50 at the time, and fled the home through the same window, officials said. Police are investigating. *** LAUNDRY LOOTER NABBED: A 14-year-old boy has been arrested for robbing from two laundromats along Avenue X in Sheepshead Bay. Officials from the 61st Precinct said that the teen hit two coin operated laundromats before being arrested and charged with robbery. The name of the teen, a resident of Quincy Street in Fort Greene, is not being released because of his age. Police charge that the teen entered Launder Heaven, 3046 Avenue X at 7:40 p.m. on February 5 and removed $50 from a cash register. When a worker tried to stop him, the teen claimed that he had a knife and ran off. About an hour and a half later, the teen entered the Super Clean Laundromat, 2948 Avenue X, and pulled a knife on a worker, demanding the money from the resister. The teen was caught shortly after the second robbery, officials said. *** ALL BAGGED UP: Coney Island residents saw just how cops handle their more active perpetrators last week as they used “the bag” on a teenager arrested for slugging his sister on West 19th Street. Officials said that they responded to the address, located between Mermaid and Neptune avenues at 3:45 p.m. on January 30 following a report that two siblings were fighting in the street. Witnesses said that during a heated argument the unidentified suspect assaulted his sister. As cops arrived, the teen allegedly began acting out, refusing to be handcuffed. Officers ultimately apprehended the teen and then rolled out “the bag,” a piece of equipment that secures and restrains the suspect so it won’t cause harm to himself or others. Police said that both the brother and the sister were taken to Coney Island Hospital for evaluation. As of this writing, it was unclear what caused the assault. ***
