An NYPD detective was shot in the arm during a wild gun battle in a Harlem subway station yesterday — but he was amazingly able to return fire and kill the suspect, officials said. Career criminal Michael McBride and Queens Detective Kevin Herlihy exchanged 19 shots during the 4:20 p.m. violence — sending terrified straphangers running for cover in the crowded station at St. Nicholas Avenue and West 145th Street. McBride, 52 — who was wanted for shooting his ex-girlfriend’s daughter in the head Monday — died at the scene with a bullet to the chest. Read More: New York Post
Husband back in Queens after wife-slay bust
A Queens man accused of stabbing and beating his wife to death with a baseball bat before fleeing to Connecticut was hauled back yesterday to face a murder rap. Jordan Hawes, 32, killed Tara Hawes — a special-education teacher in Williamsburg — in their Astoria home earlier this month and then tried to pawn a wedding band, authorities charged. Cops said he tried to cover up the crime by sending texts to relatives from the victim’s phone saying she wasn’t going to work because of a family emergency. Hawes was found sleeping in his wife’s Jeep on Feb. 4 in a Fairfield parking lot. He surrendered to Connecticut cops, telling them, “I did something wrong,” sources told The Post. Read More: New York Post
Man gets 24 years in prison for killing ex-girlfriend in Queens
A jealous ex-boyfriend who “stole” a vibrant young woman from a loving Queens family was sentenced today to 24 years in prison for the horrendous murder. Segundo Penafiel, 28, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this month, was sentenced to 24 years in prison by Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter for repeatedly stabbing his ex-girlfriend, Ebony Garcia, as her 3-year-old daughter, Chloe, stood nearby. “You stole Ebony from us! You should rot in hell you bastard!” Garcia’s heartbroken mother, Julie Perez, shouted at the killer as tears flowed down her face. Read More: New York Post
Never a doubt guard’s legend would grow with game-winner
Around the arena, inevitability ruled the moment. Among 20,092 people inside Air Canada Centre, all of them on their feet. Among the Toronto Raptors, who could sense they were being set up as patsies. Among the Knicks, of course, who have come to believe that there is nothing their point guard can’t do. And, yes: Watching Jeremy Lin, you could see it in him, too. “My teammates trust me with the ball at the end of the game,” Lin would say. Trust him? It takes everything they’ve got not to stand up and applaud him at the end of these games now. Read More: New York Post
Governor Cuomo gets high approval rating in Quinnipiac poll; voters support casinos in New York
Gov. Cuomo got some strong pre-Valentine’s Day love from New Yorkers, while casinos and a mammoth gambling-convention center at Aqueduct Racetrack received a peck on the cheek, according to a new poll. The Quinnipiac University survey released today also found President Obama with 50 percent approval and re-election ratings in the Empire State, while U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand dipped below the magic mark. But despite the love for Cuomo, voters by 58-42 said they were dissatisfied with the way things are going in New York. Read More: New York Post
Whitney Houston’s Newark funeral to be invitation-only
Fans wishing to pay their last respects to pop icon Whitney Houston will have to be on the VIP list. Attendance at Houston’s Saturday afternoon sendoff is by invitation only after Houston’s mom, Cissy, insisted the ceremony be held in her home church in Newark instead of the nearby Prudential Center. Instead of mourners being accommodated at the 19,000-seat arena, friends and family will have to squeeze into one of New Hope Baptist Church’s 1,500 spots. Read More: New York Post
