A Queens teacher who was arrested in April for having sex with a 14-year-old girl has pleaded guilty to statutory rape charges.

Daniel Reilly, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree rape in Queens Criminal Court on Monday.

Reilly, who was a sixth-grade English teacher at I.S. 237 in Flushing, admitted to having sexual intercourse with a former student at his Forest Hills residence in April, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 22. Reilly will be sentenced to six months in jail and ten years’ probation. He must also give up his teaching license and register on the state’s sex offender registry.

The relationship between Reilly and the girl was discovered by the girl’s sister who found sexually explicit text messages from the former teacher on her sister’s phone. The two had an ongoing sexual relationship for seven months, the New York Post reports.

Reilly is married and has a 1-year-old daughter, according to the Post.

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A teen is in critical condition after he was shot several times near an alley in Philadelphia’s Feltonville section overnight.

The shooting occurred just after 1 a.m. Tuesday on the 4700 block of Rorer Street, according to police.

Police took the 18-year-old victim to Temple University Hospital, where he remained in critical condition around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. He was being treated for a gunshot wound to his neck and two gunshot wounds to both his right thigh and his left foot.

No arrests have been made.

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As Vito Lopez resigned from the state Assembly amid a sexual harassment scandal on Monday, and as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver faced mounting criticism for the way he handled that scandal, Silver proposed sweeping changes to the Assembly’s sexual harassment policies.

Silver announced plans to create an independent investigator to look into all sexual harassment complaints reported to the Assembly, the New York Post reports.

Secret settlements–like the one Silver approved for two of Lopez’ accusers last year–would be banned, according to the proposed changes, and all sexual harassment complaints must be reported immediately.

The proposals come as women’s groups, government watchdog organizations and others have called for Silver’s resignation. According to a report by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics released last week, Silver’s staff failed to refer initial sexual harassment allegations against Lopez to an ethics committee.

A special prosecutor who cleared Lopez of criminal charges due to a lack of evidence said what he found in the investigation was “alarming,” and that the way the Assembly’s leadership handled the allegations encouraged Lopez to continue with his inappropriate conduct.

Lopez resigned Monday morning after 28 years in the Assembly.

Silver said on Monday, “I never gave any thought to resigning.”

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A man was shot and killed while sitting in a car in North Philadelphia Monday night.

The fatal shooting occurred about 10:40 p.m. on the 1800 block of Uber street, 6ABC Action News reports.

The 25-year-old victim was shot several times. He was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

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Two Braintree children were found safe Monday night after being allegedly kidnapped by their father, triggering an Amber Alert.

Massachusetts state police said Jon T. Lockwood, 54, was arrested at a 7-Eleven store in South Windsor, Conn. The children, Patrick and Sarah Nguyen, aged 8 and 10, were located unharmed.

Braintree police Chief Russell Jenkins told the Quincy Patriot Ledger Lockwood had a supervised visit with the children earlier in the day at a Department of Children and Families facility in Weymouth.

“There was some concern this might happen,” Jenkins said in an email.

“The foster mother tried fighting off Lockwood, engaging in a tug-of-war for the custody of Patrick, but was unsuccessful,” Jenkins said. “She tried to get the children to hide from him.”

A neighbor who heard the commotion at the foster home tried to chase Lockwood’s car as he drove away.

A description of that car, a brown 1995 BMWi with Massachusetts plates, led to Lockwood’s arrest, after a trucker called 911, telling Connecticut state troopers that he saw the car exiting Interstate 84.

Massachusetts state police said Lockwood would be returned to Massachusetts to face charges.

Braintree police said Lockwood lived in Utah and had been staying at a hotel in Foxboro. The children’s mother is believed to be out of the country.

Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBos

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A 21-year-old man was found shot to death in the Fleetwood-Concourse Village section of the Bronx on Monday night, police said.

Police responded to a call about a person shot shortly after 10 p.m. in front of an apartment building located at 287 E. 162nd St., cops said. They discovered Marcos Cabral with two gunshot wounds to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing. Cabral lived just a few blocks away from where he was killed.

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If you drew a map of Manhattan, what would your landmarks be?

For one man, a smattering of dots marked six wives and three lovers. Notably, the third, fifth and sixth wives were plotted about a block apart.

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  Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps

Another map-maker left his map nearly blank, but for a small “x” in the southeast corner of Central Park with the note: “met my wife.”

A third cartographer noted at the tip-top end of Manhattan: “ruined a kickball game by kicking ball into Hudson.” Slightly further south is the note: “FIRST CRUSH I was 27.”

These maps, and 72 others, are part of a collection by Becky Cooper, titled “Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers,” out of a public art project Cooper started in 2009.

She handmade hundreds of blank maps using a letterpress at school, and initially hid 300 of them around the city, in the Waldorf and the backseats of taxis, hoping people would stumble across them. She printed her P.O. box number on the back, expecting people would fill them out and send them back to her.

But she said that none came back, until she had a conversation with a boutique owner downtown who caught her trying to stash a map in the store. Cooper explained the project and a week later received a map in the mail that she knew was from that woman.

“The conversation had invested her enough in the project to return the map,” Cooper said. After that, she and her roommate walked the length of Manhattan, from Marble Hill to Battery Park, with a shoebox of maps, and handed them out to strangers.

A contribution from New Yorker staff writer Patricia Marx, a twenty-year Manhattan resident who is apparently “still annoyed with Broadway for running on a diagonal.” Credit: Becky Cooper.

Her book chronicles that walk, recounting little stories about the people she encountered. The text of the book is, in fact, her own map of Manhattan.

When she first considered producing a collection of the maps, she spread them all out on the floor and tried to group them into categories. A lot of people used to maps to chronicle numerous lovers, and it was then that it occurred to her that the maps were little love stories.

She noted the lost or haunted feeling that can come after a breakup, the disorienting feeling of traveling through a city pockmarked with memories.

“You feel like you’re in a ghost town,” Cooper said.

Cooper recounted the words of a friend after the end of a five-year relationship: “She’s never lived in New York without being with him. She was like, ‘My whole map of the city is skewed. I don’t know the city without him.’”

Cooper hesitated when asked if she has a favorite map.

“I feel like it’s like picking your favorite child,” she said. “I definitely have maps whose circumstances I remember more than others.”

She said the second-to-last map in the book, which portrays a four-decade-long relationship with a late wife, broke her heart when she received it.

“There isn’t an overwhelming amount of emotion that would allow you to distance yourself from it, but you can feel his loss.”

One of the most memorable maps for Cooper, which she calls “Eve.” Credit: Becky Cooper.

That sender had put his own return address label on the map, so she searched his name online and discovered the eulogy he wrote for her in a local paper.

“He said, ‘She was the most wonderful person I’ve ever known,’” Cooper recalled. “I just lost it.”

Cooper had the chance to meet that mapmaker at a reading recently when he approached her to express his gratitude at seeing his map in her collection.

“I knew his name because I love his map so much,” she said.

He told her that making it had helped him to remember things about his wife as he was trying to cope with losing her.

“He thanked me for allowing him to capture that particular Manhattan,” Cooper said.

Cooper is still collecting maps. Blank ones can be accessed here, or found on the cover of Tuesday’s Metro New York. She will be giving a talk and signing books at BookCourt in Brooklyn on Thursday, June 6 at 7 p.m.

“Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers”

Book Talk and Signing with Becky Cooper

Thursday June 6

7 p.m.

BookCourt 164 Court Street, Brooklyn

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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About 30,000 travelers moving through Connecticut dealt with grueling commutes Monday as trains between Boston and New York remained canceled due to a train crash Friday that injured more than 70 passengers and crew members.

A Metro-North train derailed and then was hit by another train between Fairfield and Bridgeport, Conn.

Many buses bound for New York from Boston’s South Station were already sold out early Monday morning.

While the snafu had little impact on Boston-area traffic, Total Traffic Network reporter Nichole Davis warned of hold-ups heading south.

“Anyone heading toward Connecticut is going to find snarled traffic there,” she said.

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The Crosstown Coalition of Taxpayers, a group of 21 civic associations formed to address Philadelphia’s planned overhaul to the Actual Value Initiative of property tax assessments, announced on Tuesday the finalization of a report analyzing reassessment data calculated by the Office of Property Assessments for tax year 2014, when AVI is set to go into effect

According to the group, the report reveals the OPA’s valuation methods were “fundamentally flawed” and “fall far short of industry standards for accuracy.”

“The Crosstown Coalition of Taxpayers is in favor of the AVI goal of fair and accurate assessments, but must now reluctantly conclude that the job has not been well done,” CCoT’s Stephen Huntington said in a statement.

The Coalition in the report found that less expensive homes are overassessed, with homes whose sale prices are below $50,000 assessed at more than twice their market value.

The report claims multifamily properties, more expensive homes and large commercial buildings are overassessed, with the city’s two dozen largest office buildings being assessed at between 70 and 85 percent of their estimated market values.

Assessments on vacant land parcels that have been sold range from anywhere between 70 percent and 136 percent of their sale price, the group claims.

“Our analysis shows that the most expensive homes are assessed for less than their market value,” CCoT member Matt Ruben said in a statement.

“Homes selling for $50,000 are assessed at twice the market value. AVI is placing an unfair burden on the owners of lower-priced homes.”

Members of the Crosstown Coalition of Taxpayers will release the full report and discuss its findings in detail on Wednesday at City Hall, where they will be joined by City Council members Jim Kenney, Jannie Blackwell, Bill Green, Kenyatta Johnson and Mark Squilla.

The Council members will call on Mayor Michael Nutter to delay the implementation of AVI.

“I would like to thank the Crosstown Coalition of Taxpayers for its unbiased analysis of OPA’s data,” Squilla said in a statement.

“The report shows how much more work needs to be done before the assessments can be presented as fair and accurate.”

Data analysis chair Walt Spencer said the Coalition is willing to meet with the OPA to discuss the report, as well.

“If OPA can demonstrate that our findings are incorrect, we will publicly apologize,” Spencer said in a statement.

“However, if OPA cannot provide documentation to support its current assertions, I’m afraid that response will speak for itself.”

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Former football player and high school history teacher Stan Ellsworth, who now spends his days touring the country on a Harley Davidson for the unconventional history TV show “American Ride,” will be shooting in Philadelphia on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ellsworth and crew are covering the Progressive Era – a period of social reform between the 1890s and 1920s that included the Prohibition and suffrage movements – during the filming this summer of the show’s fifth and sixth seasons.

He’ll kick off his Philadelphia tour at the Independence Seaport Museum.

No word yet on what other sites Ellsworth plans to take in from the back of his bike.

Other cities on the itinerary include New Orleans, Nashville, Washington, D.C., New York, New Jersey, Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland.

“American Ride” is a weekly half-hour program inspired by Ellsworth’s teaching experiences that debuted in 2011 on Brigham Young University’s BYUtv, the only nationwide university-owned TV network.

Check out a trailer below:

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Metro has gained nearly 100,000 daily readers in the last year as well as strengthened its grip as the most read free daily newspaper in New York, according to new figures that were just released.

The market research company Scarborough said Metro reached an all-time record of 733,311 people over the age of 18 in the New York area, a whooping 15 percent increase to the same period in 2012. Every week, Metro reaches over 1.5 million adults in New York in print and online – that’s 124,000 more than its competitor amNewYork.

“Thanks to our readers for making us the most popular free newspaper in New York”, Yggers Mortensen, Metro US Publisher and CEO said, “we continue to grow, innovate and find new ways to engage New Yorkers and deliver impact to advertisers both in print and online.”

Metro’s success can be attributed to 400 new newspaper boxes throughout the city as well as a concentrated focus on a re-launched website, metro.us, a redesign of the print edition and interactive features such as Blippar, a new augmented reality app.

The Scarborough data also shows that Metro has the highest proportion of adults between 18-49 years old, a demographic regarded as highly desirable by advertisers. In addition, the data says that 76 percent of readers are employed and that 1 in 10 are planning to buy a house or condo this year.

FUN FACTS ABOUT METRO READERS

1 in 5 plan to look for a new job this year

1 in 20 plan to get married this year.

25% belong to a gym/fitness club

67% own a smartphone

Your favorite beers are Corona, Bud Light and Heineken.

29% drank vodka in the past month, compared to 11%  which drank tequila.

39% attended a professional sports event in the last year

18% went to a Yankees game vs. 15% went to a Mets game

33%watched live theater in the past year

29% plan a trip outside of the United States this year

Metro readers spend $2,367 on vacation on average

45 percent visited a casino in the last year.

Source: Scarborough R1 2013

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Philadelphia boxing legend Bernard Hopkins – also known as “The Executioner” – will receive this year’s John Wanamaker Athletic Award, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau announced on Monday.

The oldest fighter to win a world championship in boxing history, 48-year-old Hopkins in March snatched the IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion title from Tavoris Cloud in a 12-round unanimous decision.

“I am extremely honored to be named the Wanamaker Athletic Award winner,” Hopkins said in a statement.

“Breaking my own record as the oldest fighter to win a world title was a great accomplishment in my career and for my city to recognize that means a great deal.”

The John Wanamaker Athletic Award, which has been presented each year since 1961, recognizes an athlete or team that represents Philadelphia within their sport.

Members of the public this year voted for nominees and a committee of media and sports specialists made the final selection.

The award will be presented by PHLCVB division the Philadelphia Sports Congress in a June 20 ceremony at the Wanamaker Building’s Crystal Tearoom.

“Everyone knows that Philadelphia breeds great champions and I take so much pride in representing Philly every time I step into the ring,” Hopkins said.

“Many thanks to the Philadelphia Sports Congress for this great honor.”

Nonprofit Back on My Feet, which builds confidence among homeless people by engaging them in running, will also be honored June 20 with the Robert P. Levy Community Service Award, given to those who have done the most to improve Philadelphia’s quality of life through sports.

The city Department of Parks and Recreation will further present its third annual Sports Volunteer of the Year Award to Office of the City Solicitor employee Yolanda Laney, who has for over 30 years coached youth basketball programs in the Tri-State area.

“This year’s recipients are all great examples of the impact that individuals can have on others,” Philadelphia Sports Congress chairman David Montgomery said in a statement.

“Bernard Hopkins is a true champion who has continued a wonderful legacy of Philadelphia boxing. In addition, Anne and Yolanda have dedicated their lives to making a significant difference for so many people. They embody the true spirit of giving back to the community. All recipients represent our city extremely well.”

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Mastery Charter Schools’ hosted a college signing day yesterday at Temple University’s Liacouras Center to celebrate its senior students’ commitment to a college or university for the Fall 2013 semester.

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Eight people were arrested after Cambridge police were forced to quell multiple fights that broke out among a crowd of hundreds that had descended on Massachusetts Avenue early Friday morning. 

Police responded to the area of 450 Massachusetts Ave. just after 2 a.m. Friday for a report of a large fight. When officers arrived they found about 400 people standing on the street and on the sidewalks on both sides of the roadway, many of them arguing and yelling back and forth. They had come from one of the nearby bars in Central Square, police said.

“While on scene, between four or five additional fights broke out on both sides of the street, and officers responded to each, separating the parties, and arresting the individuals who were actively fighting with one or more persons,” Cambridge police wrote in a report, which did not specify which establishment the people had come from.

More than 15 officers from Cambridge and MIT’s police department responded to the scene to help break up the fights, many of which occurred at the same time within the large crowd.

The eight people arrested were charged with affray. They range in age from 21 to 29 and are from Boston, Brookline, Chelsea and Randolph.

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.

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A traffic stop in Middletown, Del. on Saturday afternoon led to two narcotics arrests and the confiscation of more than 700 bags of heroin stamped with the logos “Death Injection” and “High Heat,” according to Delaware State Police.

Troopers patrolling the SR-1 turnpike near Biddles Toll Plaza around 2 p.m. pulled over a Ford Taurus that was driving over the speed limit, investigators said.

Officers allegedly found passenger Kyle Bitler, 25, to be in possession of 37 bags of heroin stamped with the brand name “Death Injection.”

Police said a search of the vehicle turned up 681 more bags of heroin stamped “Death Injection” and “High Heat” with a total estimated street value of $1,000.

Investigators were allegedly able to connect those drugs to a second passenger, 24-year-old Alan Watkins.

Both men were arrested without incident.

Bitler, of Ellendale, is charged with heroin possession, while Watkins, of Bridgeville, is charged with heroin possession and possession with the intent to deliver.

Bitler was released on $5,000 unsecured bond and Watkins was released after posting $7,000 secured bond.

The 39-year-old Taurus driver, whose identity has not been released, was also taken into custody and charged with driving with a revoked license and speeding.

He was released on a $1,000 unsecured bond.

Troopers are continuing to investigate the incident.

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A 34-year-old man who was robbed of his phone early Sunday morning was able to access his phone’s camera using his computer and provided the police with a photo of a “person of interest.”

At 4:45 a.m. Sunday morning, the victim passed three other men in the pedestrian tunnel at West 190th Street. One of the men grabbed the victim from behind and covered his eyes, while the others went through his pockets and stole cash and his cell phone. The three suspects fled through the Broadway exit of the tunnel.

The victim went home to call 911 and then accessed his cell phone from his computer using an app installed on his phone. He was able to access the camera and take a photo, which he then provided to the police.

Cops are looking to question the man in the photo, and have asked anyone with information about the robbery or the man pictured to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). All calls are confidential.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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Following a Daily News report of a Brooklyn narcotics officer receiving a promotion after costing the city more than $1.5 million in settlements, NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly blasted the city for opting for settlements too frequently.

“The city is too willing to settle the case,” Kelly said to the Daily News. “We need a lot more trials and efforts to determine the true facts in many of these allegations.”

Some of the nearly 60 cases involving the narcotics officer involved racial profiling and slurs.

One of the lawsuits involved the beating of a man whose son was watching.

The City Council has been discussing legislation that would great more stringent anti-profiling laws, which opponents say could open up the NYPD to frivolous lawsuits.

In a public safety address to NYPD captains recently, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said these lawsuits would result in officers spending time in courtrooms when they could be out on the streets keeping the city safe.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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Vito Lopez may no longer be Sheldon Silver’s colleague as of this morning, but it seems he may still be the Speaker’s problem.

Calls for investigation into Silver have developed into calls for a coup, as women’s groups, government watchdog organizations, and newspaper editorial boards across the state rail against the Speak.

Thursday’s New York Post covered featured the Speaker with Lopez under the headline “Dirty Old Men.” Silver is being criticized for arranging a confidential settlement with staffers who filed sexual harassment complaints against Lopez.

Assemblyman Micah Kellner, running for City Council, told the New York Times the investigation into the confidentiality agreement needs to include “who proposed it, who wrote it, and who required it.”

Lopez was cleared of criminal charges, but a 68-page report by the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics detailed shocking behavior.

Lopez reportedly pushed his hand “all the way up” the inner thigh of an employee, and two others contracted pink eye after consenting to apply eye drops to Lopez’s infected eyes. At a bar in Brooklyn he apparently grabbed the hand of an employee, and squeezed harder when she tried to pull away. She began to cry and he forced her to count to sixty before releasing her.

He also made a staffer massage his hand after asking her if she “felt guilty” about being a victim of sexual assault in college. While she cried, he said, “I like that you’re holding my hand.”

A recent New York Post report stated that state government corruptions costs taxpayers at least $49,710,630.64. According to The Post, that amount of money could fund two new schools, 100 new fire trucks, or the New York Islanders.

The Post noted that the Lopez settlement cost taxpayers $103,000.

Past attacks against Silver have not been successful. Over a decade ago, Syracuse Assemblyman Michael Bragman attempted to overthrow Silver as Assembly Speaker, and Silver immediately took away Bragman’s title as majority leader. Silver’s allies crushed Bragman without Silver ever emerging from his office to come to the floor to defend himself.

A source apparently told the Daily News that Governor Andrew Cuomo is leaving Lopez’s seat vacant until a primary can be held in September, in order to prevent Lopez from being able to exert any control over his replacement in a special election.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary will this summer host “Prison Food Weekend”– and unlike some of the city’s other fine correctional facilities, they’ll be serving more than just cheese sandwiches.

The event slated to be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 8 and 9 will give visitors insight into what prisoners ate at the infamous prison nearly 200 years ago, and how the menu compares to what’s served in jails today.

Attendees will be invited to sample old and new recreated prisoner meals, view sample menus and archival photographs and read reports of prison fare in historic locations across the penitentiary complex.

“The goal is not to produce food that tastes good or bad, but to accurately demonstrate what inmates ate here 150 years ago and what inmates in the U.S. eat today,” Eastern State director of public programming Sean Kelley said in a statement.

Planned dishes from days of yore include the typical 1830s inmate dinner of salted and broiled beef with “Indian mush” and hamburger steak with brown gravy and Harvard beets, which appears on an actual 1949 Eastern State Penitentiary inmate menu.

Compare that to some of the “modern” foodstuff that will be served, like the official Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recipe for Nutraloaf, a “behavior modified meal” served to inmates across the state that event organizers say is the modern version of “bread and water” punishment meals.

The meal samples will be created by Freestyle BBQ, a catering company owned by correctional officer John Freeman.

All of the weekend’s activities are included in standard admission.

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Philadelphia police on Monday released surveillance footage of a suspect in the April 18 stabbing death of a 68-year-old fruit cart vendor in South Philadelphia.

Officers responded to the 400 block of Vollmer Street shortly after 5 a.m. for a report of a person with a weapon and found the victim lying in front of his home.

He had been stabbed multiple times and died on the scene.

The victim was soon identified as Don Ly, a Vietnamese immigrant who ran a popular fruit cart in University City.

The suspect in the homicide was captured on surveillance video walking on the 2700 block of South Randolph Street, about five blocks from the scene of the crime.

He is described as a 5-foot-8-inch tall black or Hispanic male with a thin build and facial hair or a goatee.

The man was last seen wearing a dark-colored jacket and pants, a black knit hat and black Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911, to contact the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or 3335, or to submit an anonymous tip by dialing 215-686-TIPS (8477), texting PPD TIP (773847), emailing tips@phillypolice.com or by filling out this online form.

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Anyone with information can anonymously text tips to 873873. Credit: TPD

Anyone with information can anonymously text tips to 873873. Credit: TPD

Transit Police are looking for help identifying a man who allegedly assaulted a woman on a Green Line C Trolley at Park Street MBTA Station last Tuesday.

The man, seen smiling while wearing a red shirt and hooded sweatshirt, is estimated to be between 25 and 30 years old. Transit police released surveillance photographs Monday in hopes that the public could help identify him.

The MBTA has struggled with the issue of sexual assaults on the T, particularly on the Green Line due to its cramped quarters.

A closer image of the suspect. Via TPD

Transit Police allow people to offer anonymous tips by texting information to 873873. They may also call the criminal investigations unit at 617-222-1050.

Follow Morgan Rousseau on Twitter: @MetroMorgan
Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBOS

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It’s not $600 million, but it will still pay some bills.

A $1 million Powerball ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven in North Wales in Montgomery County. The ticket matched all five white balls, but not the crucial red Powerball.

The winner has yet to claim the prize, officials said.

The record Powerball jackpot, which equals $590.5 million annuity or $370.9 million cash, was sold in Florida.

The new Powerball jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing is worth $40 million.

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The old adage about man’s best friend has again proven two be true – Delaware State Police are crediting a 31-year-old woman’s four-legged companion with thwarting a robbery attempt in Wilmington on Saturday night.

Investigators said the woman was walking her dog on an unlit footpath near Shipley Road and Philadelphia Pike when shortly before 10 p.m., she was confronted by two unknown men demanding money.

The woman’s dog began to growl and bark at the men, keeping them at bay until the victim was able to escape, according to police.

The suspects didn’t follow her, and no injuries were reported.

In a release, Delaware State Police said troopers are urging the public to be alert, walk in pairs or groups, avoid dark or unlit areas, be aware of their surroundings and conceal their valuables.

Anyone with information about Saturday night’s robbery attempt is asked to contact the Robbery Unit by dialing 302-834-2630 ext. 6, to call Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, or to submit a tip by texting CRIMES (274637) with the keyword DSP, by filling out  this online form or by downloading the Delaware State Police Mobile Crime Tip application.

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The kick-flippers and grinders are wheeling themselves out of Love Park and into their own habitat.

On Wednesday, the city will officially open Paine’s Park, a public skate park adjacent to the art museum.

The total cost of the park, which was first announced in 2002, was about $4.6 million.

The park, which stretches across about three acres and sits on the Schuylkill Trail, is wedged between Schuylkill River and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It features brick quarter pipes, granite benches and metal railings.

The park is intended for pedestrians and not just skaters with the inclusion of green space, benches and cobblestone paths. The new space will host the Zumiez Couch Tour, a national skateboarding tour, and will feature live bands and professional skaters on June 21.

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Three men were indicted today on drug trafficking charges after investigators New York State Police Special Investigations Unit traced a drug trail from a handoff in the Bronx on April 9, to a stash house in Corona, Queens.

The investigation yielded approximately 10 pounds of heroin and nine pounds of crystal meth.

The meth is valued at about $960,000, and that amount of heroin could be sold for more than $1 million on the street.

New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said the drug trafficking ring “poured literally pounds of deadly, illicit drugs into the streets of Queens and beyond.”

A search of the Queens stash house uncovered a ledger pertaining to “ice” transaction, $2,000 hidden inside a vent, and supplies for making meth, including masks, grinders, a kilo-press and a scale.

Investigators believe the meth originated from “megalabs” in Mexico. One of the types of heroin they found os known as “black tar” and apparently comes from Mexico as well.

According to State Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan, the bust and seizure are “typical of a pattern” in narcotics investigations throughout the city.

Brennan believes that the presence of meth in the city is an indication that Mexican cartels are trying to “promote the use and addiction to crystal meth” here.

According to the Department of Health, emergency room visited related to meth more than doubled between 2004 and 2011, jumping from 214 to 576.

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A judge last week ruled that a Newark, N.J., hospital could be liable for the escape of inmate David Goodell, who received treatment there after allegedly faking a seizure and who police said went on to kill 21-year-old Viviana Tulli in Garfield.

Tulli’s sister and estate administrator Estella Tulli-Makowski in September of 2012 filed a suit in Essex County Superior Court against the state of New Jersey, the state Department of Corrections and parole board, the Department of Public Safety, Newark halfway house Logan Hall and its for-profit operator Community Education Centers.

The suit also names the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the UMDNJ-Hospital, where Goodell was treated in 2010 after allegedly faking a seizure at Logan Hall, part of a CEC-operated halfway house system the complaint claims is “horribly mismanaged and has experienced an ‘inordinate’ number of prisoner escapes.”

A federal judge last Monday dismissed the claims against the state defendants, ruling they sufficiently proved they are public entities and therefore can’t be held liable for injuries sustained as a result of inmate escapes.

But the UMDNJ-Hospital could still face penalties for the escape of Goodell, who was on Aug. 29, 2010, escorted to the hospital by an unarmed CEC employee after “faking” a seizure at Logan Hall, where he was transferred in February after pleading guilty two years prior to assaulting his girlfriend and receiving a four-year prison term.

Goodell escaped from the hospital the night of Aug. 29. Tulli was dead within 24 hours.

Police said witnesses in a high school parking lot reported seeing Goodell, disoriented and covered in blood.

When officers arrived, he allegedly jumped into a car – later determined to belong to Tulli – and led police on a chase that only ended when he rammed their cars.

Investigators allegedly found Goodell inside the vehicle bleeding from the wrists due to an apparent suicide attempt.

Tulli’s lifeless body was in the passenger seat.

Prosecutors claim Goodell suffocated Tulli because she rejected his romantic advances, according to court filings.

A Bergen County grand jury in 2011 indicted Goodell for Tulli’s murder.

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Gov. Deval Patrick has a new title: grandpa.

The eldest daughter of Patrick and his wife Diane gave birth to a son Monday moring. Sarah Baker Patrick Morgese gave birth to Gianluca Noah Patrick Morgese in San Francisco. It is the Patricks’ first grandchild.

The boy was two months early and weighs 2 pounds 8 ounces, but a statement from Patrick’s office said that mother and son are doing well.

“Poppy and Nonna (aka the Governor and the First Lady) are over the moon,” the statement said.

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike

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A man is set to be arraigned Monday on child molestation charges for alleged assaults at the Boys & Girls Club in Arlington during the 1970s.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s office said in a statement that Paul Collins, 62, will be charged with rape of a child by force, three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, and open and gross lewdness.

“The charges allegedly involve several male victims, now in their mid-40s, who met the defendant through their membership at the club in the 1970s,” the D.A.’s office said.

Arlington Police learned of the alleged abuse while investigating molestation accusations against another former Boys & Girls Club employee, who is now dead.

The D.A. said the club’s current managers have cooperated with the investigations.

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Buckle up – the Delaware River Port Authority’s annual Click It or Ticket seat-belt campaign in New Jersey begins Monday.

Officials with the DRPA’s Public Safety Department, along with a host of other law enforcement professionals, will be stepping up enforcement of the Garden State’s seat belt law and educating drivers about the importance of buckling up.

The two-week Click It Or Ticket campaign is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and will be advertised on variable message signs at all four DRPA bridges in the state.

“Seat belts save lives, and so do officers who remind drivers and passengers to buckle up.”

Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 5 and 34; seat belts reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths by about 50 percent, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control.

Under New Jersey’s primary enforcement law, police officers can stop a vehicle and issue tickets when one or more of the car’s passengers isn’t wearing a seat belt.

The buckle-up rates in those states average 79 percent, according to the CDC.

Since the Click It or Ticket campaign’s 1993 launch in North Carolina, national seat belt use has increased from about 65 percent to over 85 percent, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

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