Georgia CEO Fatally Shot By New Jersey Cop

Police are investigating the death of Credit Union of Atlanta CEO Defarra 'Dean' Gaymon, who was fatally shot by an undercover New Jersey cop on Friday night. According to a press release from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, the undercover detective had been investigating complaints of "public sexual activity" in Branch Brook Park in Newark, and had made one arrest with his partner. During the arrest, the detective lost a pair of handcuffs, and retreated into the park to search for them. That's when he claims he was approached by Gaymon, who was "engaged in a sex act" at the time (the WSJsays he was masturbating).

After the detective flashed his badge, he says Gaymon "assaulted" him and fled, allegedly shouting threats at the officer. The press release says, "Mr. Gaymon then lunged at and attempted to disarm the officer while reaching into his own pocket. Fearing for his life, the officer discharged his service weapon, striking Mr. Gaymon once." Gaymon, however, was unarmed.

The 48-year-old, a father of four in town for his high school reunion, died of a shot to the stomach at University Hospital. The officer was also brought to the hospital to be treated for trauma, and wasn't able to give an account of what happened until Monday. Because he is the only witness, Gaymon's family has questioned the validity of his story. The family said in a statement, "We know that the police killed an innocent man, with no history of or disposition towards violence." Police have asked any other witnesses to step forward.

The Credit Union of Atlanta wrote on their website, "Credit Union of Atlanta extends condolences to the family of DeFarra "Dean" Gaymon who passed away suddenly July 16, 2010. We are deeply saddened at the loss of Mr. Gaymon and offer our most sincere sympathy to the Gaymon family." Another reunion organizer told the Times, “All the people that knew him say you never met a kinder, nicer, more gentle person, and they’re stunned about what happened."

The Wall Street Journal via Gothamist.com

Two Elderly Men Die in Skydiving Accident

Two men in their 70s who bonded over a passion for skydiving died together over the weekend after their parachutes became entangled about 100 feet about the ground in Pennsylvania. Theodore Wilson, 70, was a well-regarded retired accountant who grew up in the Bronx and volunteered to help abused children at theBronx Community Health Network. NJ resident George Flynn, 75, was a retired ironworker and a grandfather of seven. Both men were extremely experienced skydivers; Wilson had logged 545 skydiving jumps in his lifetime, while Flynn had logged 1,497 jumps. But despite their aptitude, the two friends made their last jump Saturday, their third that day.

Witnesses said Wilson and Flynn appeared to be having perfectly normal jumps, but as they floated to the ground, they inexplicably slammed into each other in midair and the lines of their parachutes got tangled up, sending them both crashing down. Wilson was declared dead soon after, but Flynn held on and briefly regained consciousness before dying on Sunday.

Wilson's son Theodore called his dad the "Lion of the Family" and tells the Daily News, "I never really wanted my father to do skydiving - not at all. But he said to me, 'You have to live in the moment and you could die from anything, so why be fearful?'" And Flynn's wife Delores says, "He would have been happier to go like that than getting sick and lie in a hospital bed." According to another article in the News, only 16 people died in 2.5 million parachute jumps in the U.S. last year.

Son of NYC Mobster Mickey Spillane Falls to Death

The son of murdered Irish mobster Mickey Spillane tumbled out the window of his sixth-floor apartment in a fatal fall Saturday, police and his uncle said.

Robert "Bobby" Spillane, an actor who had roles on television's "Rescue Me" and "Law & Order," fell from his Midtown Manhattan apartment in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood near Times Square where his father, not to be confused with the pulp fiction writer of the same name, had run rackets back in the 1960s and 1970s.

Spillane, with one arm in a sling, had leaned on the screen of an open window to call out to his brother, Michael, who was on a street below, McManus said. The screen collapsed and Bobby Spillane fell, McManus said the brother told him.

"The screen gave out," McManus said. "He only had one arm and he went out with the screen."

The New York Police Department could confirm that Spillane fell through a window after a screen collapsed. Officers and medics responded to a call on Eighth Avenue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood about 7:45 a.m. Spillane was pronounced dead at the scene.

Spillane's father, who was revered as the "gentleman gangster," was gunned down in 1977 by the rival "Westies," the Hell's Kitchen Irish mob.

In an article about his funeral published in The New York Times, Spillane was described by a detective as "a very strong enforcer, a handsome, black-haired tough guy out of the movies."

He was often asked, even by law enforcement, if he had any relation to the crime writer of the same name.

Bobby Spillane never moved far from his family's roots in the old neighborhood near the Broadway theater district.

A few years back, Spillane drew on the lore from his father's time to write an Off-Broadway play called "All Dolled Up" about a cross-dressing gangster in the 1960s.

From 1010 WINS

Man Dies Trying to Scale Building with Belt and Shoelaces

A man who tried to scale down the side of a Harlem building with with shoelaces and a belt plunged 11 floors to his death Thursday morning.

Locked out of his girlfriend's 13th-floor apartment at W. 112th St., Steven Wright headed to the roof around 5:30 a.m.

Wright tied the laces and the belt to a pipe and tried to inch his way to her top-floor window, then plummeted onto a second-floor patio roof.

"I heard a boom!" said Alexander Bridgett, 45, whose window overlooks the patio. "And then I looked out to see a dead body."

Neighbors said Wright had a fight with girlfriend Lanecca Austin, 31, before the fatal plunge.

Austin told the Daily News she was asleep with the television on and the volume up high, and only found out Wright had fallen when cops knocked on her door.

Police don't suspect foul play.

"It's a bad thing that happened to a good dude," said one building resident.

From the New York Daily News

Man Dies Trying to Destroy Truck for Insurance Money

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police say the owner of a tractor-trailer was killed trying to wreck the truck to collect insurance money.

It happened along the Eastex Freeway feeder road near the North Loop around 2am. Police say the 26-year-old man behind the wheel died when he jumped out of his rig. Detectives told Eyewitness News the death was an accident.

Investigators believe the driver was trying to crash his 18-wheeler into a freeway support column to collect insurance money.

A witness stated that just before the truck wheels hit the curb, the driver jumped out of the cab. The driver hit his head on the ground and was knocked unconcious. He was later pronounced dead.

Authorities say the driver of an SUV following the truck was supposed to be behind the wheel, but decided against it at the last minute. He was questioned by investigators.

Part of the feeder road was blocked while police investigated.

Man Drowns in Pool - Couldn't Swim

Jose Barrera, 32, of New York City on Monday drowned in a swimming pool at an East Patchogue home, according to a Suffolk County Police report.

Barrera was visiting friends when he entered the in-ground pool at 1:04 p.m. According to the report, Barrera, who did not know how to swim, was found by his wife 15 minutes later in the eight foot deep section of the pool.

Barrera was taken by South Country Ambulance to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 1:52 p.m.

Suffolk County Police Detective Sgt. Robert Doyle said that it is believed to only be a drowning and that a medical examiner would be needed to determine the exact cause of death. Doyle said that intoxication did not appear to be a factor.

Doyle described the pool as being 18 feet by 36 feet.

From the Patchogue Patch