If you recognize the man in the picture, call the Daily News at (212) 210-1574 and let them know.Hunt perv
caught in a flash
Fone gives cops pic of subway suspect
By TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Image from cell phone camera belonging to subway rider Thao Nguyen captures shot of man (below) she says leered at her and exposed himself aboard R train last week.
When a pervert exposed himself on a Manhattan subway last week, Thao Nguyen reached for her secret weapon - her camera phone.
The quick-thinking 22-year-old snapped a shot of the smirking sicko, took it to cops and then posted it on the Internet.
Word of her campaign to nail the flasher raced through cyberspace, and more than 45,000 people had viewed the photographic evidence by last night.
"I just hope they catch him," Nguyen told the Daily News.
"Maybe someone will recognize him. Maybe it will stop other people from doing it," she said. "Maybe other women will use their camera phones to stop crime."
Nguyen's transformation from quiet Web developer to feisty crimefighter happened on an uptown R train the afternoon of Aug. 19.
She was on her way back to work after a job interview when a middle-aged, blond-haired man dressed in a black shirt and jeans sat down across from her.
"He kept staring at me," she said. "I could feel his eyes on me. I wanted to avoid eye contact so I looked away, but I could see his reflection in the window.
"I saw him massaging himself and then he unzipped and pulled it out. I thought, 'I can't believe he's doing this in the middle of the day!' "
The subway car was mostly empty and Nguyen felt nervous, so she pulled out her Samsung P777 cell phone, equipped with a 1.3 megapixel digital phone.
"I turned on the camera," she said. "He was still masturbating. I aimed it and quickly took the shot. As soon as I took it, he zipped up and got off the train."
Nguyen said she was disgusted by the incident and immediately reported it to a police officer at the 34th St. station.
The next day she filled out an official complaint, and the following day a detective had her look at hundreds of photos of ex-cons.
None of them was the culprit, but Nguyen wasn't about to give up. She posted the degenerate's photo on the Web sites Flickr and Craigslist, and bloggers began linking to her site.
Her photo and story drew a few juvenile snickers, but most of the comments have been positive. One Netizen wrote: "You go, girl!" Another commented, "I hope his mom sees it." The NYPD, which confirmed Nguyen had filed a complaint, also was impressed.
"It's great she took the picture; it'll help with the investigation," said NYPD Detective Kevin Czartoryski, who warned that a woman should be careful if the flasher sees her taking the picture.
"If it can be done in a safe manner, it'd be helpful to locate the suspect," said Czartoryski, a NYPD spokesman. "Common sense should be used when deciding if a picture can be taken."
Nguyen isn't the first straphanger to use her cell phone to catch a criminal.
In May, two Catholic schoolgirls took a photo of a man en flagrante on the F train and showed it to a cop, who nabbed the pervert.
Nguyen said even if her tormentor isn't caught - and charged with public lewdness, a misdemeanor that carries up to three months in jail - she's glad she took action. "He made me feel creepy," she said. "I want to embarrass him."
If you recognize the man in the picture, call the Daily News at (212) 210-1574 and let us know.
Originally published on August 26, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Friday, August 05, 2005
Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq reaches low point
AP Poll: Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq reaches low point
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq is at its lowest level yet, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that also found fewer than half now think he's honest.
A solid majority still see Bush as a strong and likable leader, though the president's confidence is seen as arrogance by a growing number.
Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq, which had been hovering in the low- to mid-40s most of the year, dipped to 38%. Midwesterners and young women and men with a high school education or less were most likely to abandon Bush on his handling of Iraq in the last six months.
American troops have suffered heavy casualties in Iraq in recent days. On Wednesday, 14 Marines were killed in the Euphrates River valley in the worst roadside bombing targeting Americans since the war began in March 2003.
William Anderson, a retired Republican from Fort Worth, said Bush "has the right intentions, but he's going about them the wrong way."
"Iraq is one of the issues that everybody has a problem with," Anderson said. "There are some big discussions about it around town. Everybody's got their agreements and disagreements. It seems like there's no end. Is it going to end up another Vietnam?"
Continuing worries about Iraq may do more than drag down Bush's standing with the public. They could become a major issue in the 2006 midterm congressional races, and if the war is still going in 2008, they could be a factor in the presidential race.
Bush's overall job approval was at 42%, with 55% disapproving. That's about where Bush's approval has been all summer but slightly lower than at the beginning of the year.
The portion of people who consider Bush honest has dropped slightly from January, when 53% described him that way while 45% did not. Now, people are just about evenly split on that issue — with 48% saying he's honest and 50% saying he's not.
The drop in the number of people who see Bush as honest was strongest among middle-aged Americans as well as suburban women, a key voting group in the 2004 election. A further erosion of trust could make it tougher for Bush to win support for his policies in Congress and internationally.
"The reason that trust is so important has to do with the long-standing belief that you could trust him, even if you don't always agree with him and don't understand what he's doing," said Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas. "The honesty dip is partly caused by a loss of faith in his credibility on Iraq."
The president said Thursday from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, that threats from al-Qaeda's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, "make it clear that Iraq is a part of this war on terror, and we're at war." Bush pledged to "complete this job in Iraq."
Almost two-thirds in the poll described Bush as strong and likable.
"He's a man of character," said Cheryl Cheyney, a school bus driver from Cumming, Ga., and a Republican. "He's very honest in the things he says. I agree with his belief system, the way he believes in God and is not afraid to show it. That's very important to me."
But the portion of people who view his confidence as arrogance has increased from 49% in January to 56% now.
"This country is a monarchy," said Charles Nuutinen, a 62-year-old independent from Greenville, Wis. "He's turning this country into Saudi Arabia. He does what he wants. He doesn't care what the people want."
Six in 10 said they think the country is headed down the wrong track, despite some encouraging economic news in recent weeks.
"Iraq is just a great weight holding down perceptions of an economy that is quite robust," said Karlyn Bowman, a public opinion analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. "Whenever you have troops in harm's way, people are anxious about things in general."
The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted Aug. 1-3 by Ipsos, an international polling firm. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq is at its lowest level yet, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that also found fewer than half now think he's honest.
A solid majority still see Bush as a strong and likable leader, though the president's confidence is seen as arrogance by a growing number.
Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq, which had been hovering in the low- to mid-40s most of the year, dipped to 38%. Midwesterners and young women and men with a high school education or less were most likely to abandon Bush on his handling of Iraq in the last six months.
American troops have suffered heavy casualties in Iraq in recent days. On Wednesday, 14 Marines were killed in the Euphrates River valley in the worst roadside bombing targeting Americans since the war began in March 2003.
William Anderson, a retired Republican from Fort Worth, said Bush "has the right intentions, but he's going about them the wrong way."
"Iraq is one of the issues that everybody has a problem with," Anderson said. "There are some big discussions about it around town. Everybody's got their agreements and disagreements. It seems like there's no end. Is it going to end up another Vietnam?"
Continuing worries about Iraq may do more than drag down Bush's standing with the public. They could become a major issue in the 2006 midterm congressional races, and if the war is still going in 2008, they could be a factor in the presidential race.
Bush's overall job approval was at 42%, with 55% disapproving. That's about where Bush's approval has been all summer but slightly lower than at the beginning of the year.
The portion of people who consider Bush honest has dropped slightly from January, when 53% described him that way while 45% did not. Now, people are just about evenly split on that issue — with 48% saying he's honest and 50% saying he's not.
The drop in the number of people who see Bush as honest was strongest among middle-aged Americans as well as suburban women, a key voting group in the 2004 election. A further erosion of trust could make it tougher for Bush to win support for his policies in Congress and internationally.
"The reason that trust is so important has to do with the long-standing belief that you could trust him, even if you don't always agree with him and don't understand what he's doing," said Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas. "The honesty dip is partly caused by a loss of faith in his credibility on Iraq."
The president said Thursday from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, that threats from al-Qaeda's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, "make it clear that Iraq is a part of this war on terror, and we're at war." Bush pledged to "complete this job in Iraq."
Almost two-thirds in the poll described Bush as strong and likable.
"He's a man of character," said Cheryl Cheyney, a school bus driver from Cumming, Ga., and a Republican. "He's very honest in the things he says. I agree with his belief system, the way he believes in God and is not afraid to show it. That's very important to me."
But the portion of people who view his confidence as arrogance has increased from 49% in January to 56% now.
"This country is a monarchy," said Charles Nuutinen, a 62-year-old independent from Greenville, Wis. "He's turning this country into Saudi Arabia. He does what he wants. He doesn't care what the people want."
Six in 10 said they think the country is headed down the wrong track, despite some encouraging economic news in recent weeks.
"Iraq is just a great weight holding down perceptions of an economy that is quite robust," said Karlyn Bowman, a public opinion analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. "Whenever you have troops in harm's way, people are anxious about things in general."
The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted Aug. 1-3 by Ipsos, an international polling firm. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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