On Halloween night 11 years ago, New Yorkers were taken by storm after learning about the elaborate story of Peter Braunstein.

The high-intelligence former journalist and playwright, now 52, became known as the “Halloween rapist” after concocting a bogus scene wherein he donned smoke eater gear and entered an apartment complex — with the aim of overpowering his female victim. The ensuing case led to a city-wide then national manhunt that ended in multiple stab wounds to Braunstein’s neck. This is the story of that fateful October night and the ensuing “chase.”(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A pack of Pennsylvania tourists were taken for a ride by an unlicensed pedicab driver who charged them nearly $500 for a 15-block trip in Midtown.

The group, mostly teens in town for a 15th birthday celebration with two adult chaperones, were hit with a $492 bill by the “bully” pedicab operator, according to the tourists and industry reps. The 13-person trip on Oct. 22 included three separate pedis on one bill — and should have cost around $72 total even with the extra legwork, according to industry experts. “These pedicab scams happen every day,” fumed Ibrahim Donmez, head of the New York Pedicab Network, an industry group.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

An NYPD cop being sued for restraining 16-year-old Kimani Gray after he was shot seven times by police, secured the dying youth’s hands behind his back with pink-colored handcuffs, according to court papers.

It is unclear why Police Officer John Hoder was carrying the unusual handcuffs. But it was apparently a well-known fact among his fellow officers that the pink bracelets belonged to him when they were questioned as to how they knew who had restrained Gray. “I don’t know if he used pink cuffs to demean (someone under arrest) or if it’s something allowed by the police for some other reason,” said lawyer Richard Cardinale, who represents Gray’s motehr in a federal lawsuit alleging excessive force and illegal handcuffing.(nydailynews.com)…[+]