lisafremont
An open mind shouldn't mean an empty one!
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2004
- Messages
- 7,133
- Reaction score
- 19
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/253802p-217310c.html
Witness is 81 and on the run
An 81-year-old Queens granny is on the lam after she stood up a Queens jury waiting for her to testify against her own son yesterday.
Ola McLeod was due to testify that her drug-crazed son, Hasker, robbed her last year after tying her up in the family's Jamaica home. When she failed to show, an arrest warrant was issued and cops started searching for her.
But the elderly woman's disappearance does not get Hasker McLeod off the hook. A niece, Felice Franklin, also victimized in the same attack, testified after she was threatened with arrest.
The mother and the niece were "extremely reluctant witnesses," Assistant District Attorney Dianna Megias warned jurors in her opening statement. "They don't want to testify against him because he is family."
Hasker McLeod, 51, admitted tying up Franklin and his mom, stealing $100 and taking his niece's car on Dec. 28, 2003, according to police testimony.
"I told her I love her and asked her if she was comfortable," he allegedly said after his arrest. "I told my mother that I was very sorry for doing this to her and I think I had a drug problem. I gave her a kiss and asked her to pray for me."
Because he is a repeat offender, McLeod, whose criminal record dates to the 1970s, faces life in prison if convicted.
Scott Shifrel
Originally published on November 18, 2004
Witness is 81 and on the run
An 81-year-old Queens granny is on the lam after she stood up a Queens jury waiting for her to testify against her own son yesterday.
Ola McLeod was due to testify that her drug-crazed son, Hasker, robbed her last year after tying her up in the family's Jamaica home. When she failed to show, an arrest warrant was issued and cops started searching for her.
But the elderly woman's disappearance does not get Hasker McLeod off the hook. A niece, Felice Franklin, also victimized in the same attack, testified after she was threatened with arrest.
The mother and the niece were "extremely reluctant witnesses," Assistant District Attorney Dianna Megias warned jurors in her opening statement. "They don't want to testify against him because he is family."
Hasker McLeod, 51, admitted tying up Franklin and his mom, stealing $100 and taking his niece's car on Dec. 28, 2003, according to police testimony.
"I told her I love her and asked her if she was comfortable," he allegedly said after his arrest. "I told my mother that I was very sorry for doing this to her and I think I had a drug problem. I gave her a kiss and asked her to pray for me."
Because he is a repeat offender, McLeod, whose criminal record dates to the 1970s, faces life in prison if convicted.
Scott Shifrel
Originally published on November 18, 2004