Headlines: Armed robbery, drag racing arrests, illegal strip searches, multilingual hate crime hotline

Here are some stories making headlines across the Hudson Valley.

News 12 Staff

Mar 17, 2021, 10:17 AM

Updated 1,380 days ago

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Here are some stories making headlines across the Hudson Valley.
Police have released a surveillance photo of three suspects who they say robbed a man of his wallet in South Nyack, just before 10 p.m. last Friday. Officials say the suspects approached the man on Cooper Avenue and two of them flashed box cutters. They then pushed the victim and robbed him before running away. The victim was not seriously hurt.
Two Manhattan men have been arrested for illegal drag racing in Greenburgh. Police say the pair gave them chase Monday night, after they were spotted speeding down North Central Park Avenue. Officers were unable to catch up with them during the initial pursuit.  However, both vehicles and their drivers were located a short time later, after becoming involved in a crash near South Central Park Avenue and Underhill Road.  Both 24-year old suspects were charged with misdemeanor illegal speed contest.
A new lawsuit claims Mount Vernon police officers "routinely" conducted illegal strip searches. The lawsuit alleges a Latino resident was illegally strip-searched. Mount Vernon officers allegedly also conducted a cavity search that was "humiliating and degrading, and served no valid law enforcement purpose." The allegations come as the city works to reform the department. A commission released a report with 43 recommendations to improve transparency and accountability. A co-chair of the commission says one of the most important reforms would be to create a civilian complaint review board. News 12 asked for a comment on the strip search lawsuit, and a spokesperson for the city of Mount Vernon says they do not comment on pending litigation.
The Westchester County DA has announced a new multilingual hotline to report hate crimes, bias incidents and other potential criminal matters.  It's a hotline to report racism, elder abuse and all other bad behavior. It's available for English, Spanish and Mandarin speakers and more languages are coming. The number to call is 914-995-TIPS.