UK's Prince Harry returns from Afghanistan

Getty Images

In this image released on January 21, 2013, Prince Harry, makes early morning checks as he sits on an Apache helicopter at the British controlled flight-line at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan

LONDON — Capt. Wales is coming home to be Prince Harry once again.

The Ministry of Defense revealed Monday that the 28-year-old prince is returning from a 20-week deployment in Afghanistan, where he served as an Apache helicopter pilot with the Army Air Corps. It did not immediately divulge his exact whereabouts.

In interviews conducted in Afghanistan, the third in line to the British throne described feeling boredom, frustration and satisfaction during a tour that saw him kill Taliban fighters on missions in support of ground troops. He also spoke of his struggle to balance his job as an army officer with his royal role — and his relief at the chance to be "one of the guys."

"My father's always trying to remind me about who I am and stuff like that," said Harry, the younger son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. "But it's very easy to forget about who I am when I am in the army. Everyone's wearing the same uniform and doing the same kind of thing."

Stationed at Camp Bastion, a sprawling British base in the southern Afghan desert, the prince — known as Capt. Wales in the military — flew scores of missions as a co-pilot gunner, sometimes firing rockets and missiles at Taliban fighters.

"Take a life to save a life. That's what we revolve around, I suppose," he said. "If there's people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we'll take them out of the game."

Harry's second tour in Afghanistan went more smoothly than the first, in 2007-2008, which was cut short after 10 weeks when a magazine and websites disclosed details of his whereabouts. British media had agreed to a news blackout on security grounds.

This time, the media were allowed limited access to the prince in return for not reporting operational details.

A member of the air corps' 662 Squadron, the prince was part of a two-man crew whose duties ranged from supporting ground troops in firefights with the Taliban to accompanying British Chinook and U.S. Black Hawk helicopters as they evacuated wounded soldiers.

He said that while sometimes it was necessary to fire on insurgents, the formidable helicopter — equipped with wing-mounted rockets, Hellfire laser-guided missiles and a 30mm machine gun — was usually an effective deterrent.

"If guys get injured, we come straight into the overhead, box off any possibility of an insurgent attack because they look at us and just go, 'Right, that's an unfair fight, we're not going to go near them,'" Harry said.

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Man critically hurt in Brooklyn lab fire

A man was left in cardiac arrest and two firefighters injured after a raging inferno erupted at a Brooklyn medical lab, fire officials said.

The fire started on the third floor of the four-story building at 2:03 p.m. on the corner of Utrecht Avenue near 52 Street in Borough Park, sources said.

The critically injured man, who was found inside the burning building, was rushed to Lutheran Hospital. The two firefighters suffered non-life-threatening injuries, fire officials said.

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Heat's on this guy: Near-naked 'burglar' arrested outside Calif. home — he had been using the sauna

SAN ANDREAS, Calif. — Authorities in Northern California say a man arrested in nothing but a trench coat and socks after a break-in told investigators he had been using the homeowner's sauna.

Calaveras County sheriff's deputies arrested 49-year-old Robert London this week after they responded to a report of a burglary at a home in San Andreas. He pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of burglary and possession of stolen property.

Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Hewitt says arriving deputies found the homeowner on top of a nearly naked London on the driveway.

The homeowner said he discovered London going through his kitchen cabinets and chased him out the door.

Hewitt says London told investigators he thought the house was vacant, and he had used the sauna there in the past.

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Probation in 'buzzed' crash that killed pregnant woman

An admitted buzzed driver dodged up to seven years in prison today when she plead guilty for losing control of her car, killing her pregnant friend and injured other passengers.

Denise Finley was driving "fast under unsafe weather conditions" with Dominique Jamison and four others home from a party when her SUV slipped over, landing in a marsh near Kennedy Airport on Dec 30, prosecutors said.

Everyone got out of the car except 25-year-old Jamison, who died from brain trauma and drowning.

"They were friends from their neighborhood, both families know each other, its a tragedy all around," said Finley's attorney, Robert DiDio, who said his client will be sentenced to 60 days in jail and released on Feb 7.

Finley, 32 of Arverne, admitted to detectives that she drank a cup of cranberry juice and vodka before driving.

The blood alcohol test results were unknown at the time of Finley's arrest where she was originally charged with vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and without a license, according to court papers.

"I'm sorry," said a tearful Finley when she plead guilty to third-degree assault and driving while impaired, her blood-alcohol level was slightly under the NYS legal limit of .08.

The maximum sentence for third-degree assault -- a misdemeanor -- is up to a year.

Jamison's mother, Lenay declined to comment about the case outside of court.

A Queens judge will sentence Finley to a conditional discharge, three years probation and a $500 fine. She must also attend a drunk driving program, install an ignition interlock to her vehicle and attend a victim impact program for a year.

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No charges to be filed in July 4 boat accident that killed three children on LI

No charges will be filed in the July 4 Long Island boat accident that killed three children, law enforcement officials said yesterday.

“No criminal charges are appropriate’’ against the adults on the capsized boat, said Nassau DA Kathleen Rice’s spokesman, John Byrne.

Victoria Gaines, 7, Harley Treanor, 11, and David Aureliano, 12, died in the accident.

“The investigation uncovered a unique combination of circumstances that led to this specific boat’s capsizing,’’ in the Long Island Sound after a fireworks display, said Byrne, who would not elaborate on what the circumstances were.

AP

The FBI dive team and Nassau County Police pull alongside of the Kandi Won after the vessel was raised from the floor of Oyster Bay off New York's Long Island.

The investigation “also uncovered gaping holes in the maritime regulatory system and contributory design flaws in the vessel,” Byrne said.

The boat’s manufacturer suggested a maximum load of 10 people but there were 27 aboard on the night of the tragedy.

“The combination of these factors proved to be deadly but cannot support criminal charges that require proof beyond reasonable doubt,’’ said Byrne.

The DA will continue investigating, he said and will have “recommendations at a later date,’’ said Byrne.

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Man pinned by car in critical condition

A 55-year-old man is in critical condition after being pinned to a wall by a car in Brooklyn Heights, fire officials said.

The car rammed the pedestrian near Old Fulton Street and the entrance of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, according to the FDNY.

The victim was rushed to Lutheran Hospital in critical condition, officials said.

Shop owners and workers nearby said they did not witness the accident, which occurred near the ramp to the expressway, where the tall brick wall that the victim was pinned against obscured their view.

A traffic agent said the pedestrian was hit by a car that sped around the turn but police said they did not believe there was any criminality.

kconley@nypost.com

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NY passes nation's toughest gun law; Gov. Cuomo signs

ALBANY — Jumping out ahead of Washington, New York enacted the nation's toughest gun restrictions Tuesday and the first since the Connecticut school shooting, including an expanded assault-weapon ban and mandatory background checks for buying ammunition.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the measure, the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, or SAFE, into law less than an hour after it won final passage in the Legislature, with supporters hailing it as a model for the nation and gun-rights activists condemning it as a knee-jerk piece of legislation that won't make anyone safer and is too extreme to win support in the rest of the country.

AP

Members explain their vote on New York's Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act in the Assembly Chamber at the Capitol in Albany.

"Common sense can win," Cuomo said. "You can overpower the extremists with intelligence and with reason and with common sense."

Owners of an estimated 1 million previously legal semiautomatic rifles, like the Bushmaster model used to kill 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Conn., a month ago, will be allowed to keep their weapons but will have a year to register them with police.

"When there's a pileup of events, when the federal government does not do it, the state of New York has to lead the way," said state Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, a Brooklyn Democrat and co-sponsor.

In addition to outlawing a broader array of military-style weapons, the measure restricts ammunition magazines to seven bullets, down from the current 10, creates a more comprehensive database of people barred from owning guns, and makes New York the first state to require background checks to buy bullets. The system will also help flag customers who buy large amounts of ammo.

In another provision, therapists, doctors and other mental health professionals will be required to tell state authorities if a patient threatens to use a gun illegally. The patient's weapon could then be taken away.

Richard Aborn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, said Cuomo clearly understood gun violence is a complex issue requiring solutions more comprehensive than simply banning a particular weapon.

"I think that's an important message for the nation," he said.

In a statement, the National Rifle Association said: "These gun control schemes have failed in the past and will have no impact on public safety and crime."

"While lawmakers could have taken a step toward strengthening mental health reporting and focusing on criminals, they opted for trampling the rights of law-abiding gun owners in New York, and they did it under a veil of secrecy in the dark of night," the NRA said.

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School bus drivers to strike Wednesday

The wheels on the bus won’t go ‘round.

The school bus workers’ union announced that a citywide strike will begin Wednesday — a brutal work stoppage that will send families of 152,000 yellow bus-riding kids scrambling for new travel options.

Officials of Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union said at a midtown press conference that the strike was about making sure that the city doesn’t lay off experienced workers every time contracts for bus companies come up for bid.

The union, which represents 9,000 drivers, matrons and mechanics, has threatened a strike since mid-December, when the city put out bids for new busing contracts that lack the decades-old job protections.

AP

School bus drivers are set to go on strike starting Wednesday morning.

The union insists the protections are vital because the Department of Education cuts hundreds of routes annually in an attempt to save money — but then eventually ends up reinstating the bulk of them.

The protections ensure that someone who loses their job when a route is cut is also hired back — in order of seniority — when it’s restored.

“We don’t want to go on strike — a strike doesn’t help anybody,” one Queens driver told The Post. “But we don’t have a choice, because if we don’t strike on this issue, we don’t have a job.”

City officials said a 2011 court ruling struck down those protections — known as Employee Protection Provisions — as illegal, so that the city can’t include them in new bids for yellow bus routes.

Speaking before the confirmation of the strike, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said a walk-out by the union would be irresponsible, costly and damaging to the education of students.

“If there is a strike, it’s a strike against our students,” he said at a City Hall appearance. “And this will have a devastating impact on our students

The December bids at the heart of the dispute, which account for roughly one-sixth of the city’s 6,900 school bus routes, would replace current contracts with bus companies that are set to expire this summer.

DOE officials say the job protections force companies that win new contracts to hire workers based on seniority from companies that lose routes — making it virtually impossible for the city to ever cut its costs.

The city pays $1.1 billion per year to transport students in kindergarten through eighth grade to school.

Officials have announced contingency plans that include handing out MetroCards to students, and to parents of the youngest kids.

Where public transit isn’t an option, private drivers and taxi or car services would be reimbursed.

The city tried to remove the employee protections from its yellow bus contracts in 1979 — which led to a paralyzing, three-month strike by school bus workers.

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NRA says Congress will not pass assault weapons ban

WASHINGTON — The powerful gun lobby is gauging enough support in Congress to block a law that would ban assault weapons, despite promises from the White House and senior lawmakers to make such a measure a reality.

Senators plan to introduce a bill that would ban assault weapons and limit the size of ammunition magazines, like the one used in the December shooting massacre that killed 27 people, most of them children, in Newtown, Conn. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has promised to push for a renewal of expired legislation.

The National Rifle Association has so far prevented passage of another assault weapons ban like the one that expired in 2004. But some lawmakers say the Newtown tragedy has transformed the country, and Americans are ready for stricter gun laws. President Barack Obama has made gun control a top priority. And on Tuesday Vice President Joe Biden is expected to give Obama a comprehensive package of recommendations for curbing gun violence.

Bloomberg

The NRA is confident Congress won't ban semi-automatic assault rifles, like these made by Bushmaster, in the wake of the Newtown school shooting.

Still, the NRA has faith that Congress would prevent a new weapons ban.

"When a president takes all the power of his office, if he's willing to expend political capital, you don't want to make predictions. You don't want to bet your house on the outcome. But I would say that the likelihood is that they are not going to be able to get an assault weapons ban through this Congress," NRA president David Keene told CNN's "State of the Union."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., responded with a flat out "no" when asked on CBS' "Face the Nation" whether Congress would pass a ban on assault weapons.

Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a lifelong member of the NRA has said everything should be on the table to prevent another tragedy like Newtown. But he assured gun owners he would fight for gun rights at the same time. "I would tell all of my friends in NRA, I will work extremely hard and I will guarantee you there will not be an encroachment on your Second Amendment rights," Manchin said on ABC's "This Week."

The NRA's deep pockets help bolster allies and punish lawmakers who buck them. The group spent at least $24 million in the 2012 elections — $16.8 million through its political action committee and nearly $7.5 million through its affiliated Institute for Legislative Action. Separately, the NRA spent some $4.4 million through July 1 to lobby Congress. Keene insists the group represents its members and not just the gun manufacturers, though he said the NRA would like industry to contribute more money to the association.

"We know what works and what doesn't work. And we're not willing to compromise on people's rights when there is no evidence that doing so is going to accomplish the purpose," Keene said.

The NRA, instead, is pushing for measures that would keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, until a person gets better. "If they are cured, there ought to be a way out of it," Keene said.

Currently, a person is banned from buying a gun from a licensed dealer if the person is a fugitive, a felon, convicted of substance abuse, convicted of domestic violence, living in the U.S. illegally or someone who "has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution."

States, however, are inconsistent in providing information about mentally ill residents to the federal government for background checks. And, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said some 40 percent of gun sales happen with no background checks, such as at gun shows and by private sellers over the Internet or through classified ads.

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Everybody off! City school bus strike is likely to happen Wednesday

A school bus strike that threatens to strand 150,000 children is likely to begin on Wednesday and could be announced as early as tomorrow, sources told The Post.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 has already printed strike posters, assigned members to future picket lines at bus yards across the city, and distributed a list of “do’s and don’ts” for conduct during a strike, sources said.

Members will not have to take any additional action this week to initiate a strike because a May vote pre-authorized it.

The city has been anticipating the strike, and has announced contingency plans that include handing out MetroCards to students and parents. Where public transit is not available, private drivers and taxi or car service would be reimbursed. All field trips will be cancelled, but after-school programs would remain open.

Some predict chaos will ensue outside schools as many parents idle and jockey for parking during arrival and dismissal times.

“We are still taking the threat of a strike seriously and communicating our contingency plans to families,” so that they are prepared in the event of a strike,” Department of Education spokeswoman Erin Hughes said.

The union, comprised of 9,000 drivers, mechanics and escorts, is battling the city to retain employee protection provisions in case a yellow-bus company they work for loses its contract with the city.

Those protections — in place since 1979 but ruled illegal in a 2011 court decision — enabled senior people at a jilted bus company to get hired by the winning bidder.

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Suspect in city's first 2013 murder caught in Ohio

Police have nabbed a suspect wanted for New York City's first murder this year in Ohio, law-enforcement sources said today.

Raymond Mayrant, 25, will be extradited back to New York for the murder of a Bronx school crossing guard, sources said.

Mayrant was dating her daughter, and allegedly shot them both in a confrontation at a Soundview apartment on Jan. 3.

Elzina Brown, 59, was shot in the chest, while her daughter was shot in the nose, authorities said.

It was not immediately clear why he went to Ohio after the slaying.

NYPD

Raymond Mayrant, caught in Ohio.

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Goat-loving oddball accused of sexually assaulting drunk teen

A goat-loving oddball, known for dining in Manhattan with his livestock in tow, is accused of sexually assaulting a teen who was too drunk to consent, prosecutors said.

Cyrus Fakroddin, 51, picked up a 19-year-old girl who had partied with friends at a Manhattan nightclub and was physically and mentally incapacitated when she encountered the eccentric early in the morning of Nov. 17, prosecutors added.

Fakroddin, whose “Pizza Goat,” Cocoa, is a New York animal celebrity, got the inebriated teen in his van and took her to his home in Summit, N.J., where he sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said.

Facebook

Cyrus Fakroddin.

The victim regained consciousness several hours later and had no memory of meeting the goat-herder or going to his house, according to New Jersey authorities. The teen called a friend and made her way back to New York, where she sought medical attention, authorities said.

Fakdroddin, known for leading his leashed four-legged friend all over town, was arrested Wednesday after police gathered physical evidence and statements supporting the teen's claims, prosecutors said.

He is being held in Union County Jail on $250,000 bail.

Prosecutors refused to identify the club where the teen party. They did not immediately respond to questions about whether they tipped off Manhattan authorities about a nightspot that may be serving underage girls.

kconley@nypost.com

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90-year-old grandma hurt in B'klyn drive-by shooting

A 90-year-old grandma was grazed by a single stray bullet today in Brooklyn in a drive-by shooting, cop sources said.

The woman was walking with a shopping cart and a home health aid when a silver car pulled up to a group of kids at Blake and Miller avenues around 4:30 p.m., cops said. Several shots were fired into the group, with one bullet grazing the elderly woman in the elbow. The car then fled the scene.

The woman lives on Miller Avenue, just one block away from the incident.

Police believe the kids were the intended target. They located a parked car a few blocks away but have been unable to find the driver.

The woman was taken to Brookdale Hospital and is expected to survive.

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Body found in Marine Park ID'd as missing girl

A body found naked and burned in Marine Park this weekend was missing 14-year-old Shaniesha Forbes, police said.

The girl was identified today, two days after a 911 caller reported finding her body on a sandy clearing next to a foot path through heavy brush in Marine Park early Sunday morning. She had been reported missing from her Brooklyn home on Friday.

No cause of death has been determined but sources said it looked like a homicide.

"She was naked," a source said. "She was burned. She was buried in the sand. It looks bad."

Forbes, a student at the Academy for Young Writers in Williambsurg, was found just over a mile from her home.

The victim was a Justin Bieber fan, according to her Facebook profile, which is plastered with pictures of the teen hearthrob.

kconley@nypost.com

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Cops on lookout for man who sexually abused 10-year-old girl in Queens

Cops are hunting a man wanted for sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl inside the child’s apartment building, authorities said.

The victim was walking home from the store Saturday afternoon when the man followed the girl into her apartment building near Broadway and Pettit Avenue in Elmhurst, according to cops.

The man tried to engage the girl in conversation before touching her groin over her pants, cops said. He then exposed himself to her before the girl fled into her apartment uninjured.

Police described the perp as a white male with a beard and glasses, approximately 30 years old between five-feet-ten and six-feet-tall. He is believed to be between 170 and 190 pounds.

Cops said he was last scene wearing a black sweatsuit, a black knit cap and pushing a black mountain bike.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

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Labor issues could mean NYC school bus strike

The New York City schools chancellor on Sunday accused the union representing school bus drivers of “jerking our kids around” by threatening a strike that would force 152,000 students to find alternative ways to get to class.

“A strike would affect our most vulnerable students,” Chancellor Dennis Walcott told a news conference at the Manhattan headquarters of the Department of Education.

The children who use the yellow school buses include 54,000 with disabilities, the chancellor said, and the “union should stop playing games, issuing threats of striking” — but not saying which day it might happen.

“The union has said, ‘Well, maybe on Monday, well maybe Wednesday, maybe we’ll do it, maybe we won’t do it.’ They’re jerking our kids around,” Walcott said. “We can’t allow that to happen.”

Officials of Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union say they’re trying to avert a strike. But as Walcott spoke inside, thousands of drivers and their supporters packed City Hall Park for a boisterous rally with talk of walking out. cm-bd

The city is looking to cut transportation costs and has put contracts with private bus companies up for bid. The union is decrying the lack of employee protections, saying many current drivers could suddenly lose their jobs once their contracts are up in June.

A decision on the new bids is to be made in May, city officials said.

“They’re trying to replace us with inexperienced drivers working for new companies for minimum wage,” said Samuel Rivera, 38, who’s been driving for almost a dozen years.

Driver Rick Meli scanned the spirited throng in the park, standing shoulder to shoulder, and said, “This is going to get ugly.”

“I’ve been working 35 years driving kids to school in the Bronx, and now you’re going to tell me, ‘You don’t have a job no more’?” said the 67-year-old union member. “How do you tell this many people they could lose their jobs?”

In case of a strike, students will be given MetroCards to get to school. If they’re younger, a parent or guardian also would get a MetroCard to escort a child. And in the case of special needs children, families would get reimbursed for non-public transportation.

The union argues that child safety is at stake if less experienced drivers are hired for lower wages.

Walcott countered that bids include stringent safety requirements for the drivers — as well as savings that could be used for educational purposes. He said New York has not used significant competitive bidding for new yellow bus contracts since 1979, resulting in a $6,900 annual busing cost per child — compared with $3,124 in Los Angeles.

A strike would impact all students who use the buses, including parochial and private schools.

New York City has 1.1 million students in its school district.

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Leukemia patient, family return to renovated LI home after Sandy

Wayne Carrington

The Heckman family sits for the first time together on the front enteranceway of their new restored home.

Home makeover, Sandy edition, came to Long Island yesterday.

Steven Heckman, a 6-year-old being treated for leukemia, returned from Disney World with his family to a home salvaged from the ravages of the late October superstorm.

“Wow — that’s nice!” Steven said when he saw his bedroom, redone with a mural of his favorite character, Indiana Jones.

His mom, 29-year-old Danielle Heckman, cried as she stepped out of a white stretch limousine and got her first look at their renovated house in Amityville.

Wayne Carrington

The Heckman family's restored home in Amityville.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a house this beautiful before,” she said.

The ranch-style home took on up to five feet of water that ruined clothes and toys, wrecked the floors and wiring, and destroyed the plumbing.

Volunteers from the local chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry repaired the $150,000 worth of damage and added on a new bedroom for the family’s two girls, Alexa, 9, and Juliana, 3.

“I’m still in shock,” Steven’s dad, also named Steven, said. “All of the words that can describe, ‘This is great,’ is all I can say. This is unbelievable.”

The Heckmans were struggling to keep their heads above water even before the storm hit.

Danielle Heckman had to quit her job to care for him her son, and Steven Heckman is unemployed. They were focused on getting chemotherapy for their son, who needs two years of treatment.

The family had moved into the house, which was once a summer place for Steven’s paternal grandmother, three years before the storm hit. The home was not insured.

The Heckmans thought $8,000 they’d raised for repairs would be enough. But then they discovered that fixing the heating system alone would cost $6,000.

“We were at our wit’s end,” Danielle Heckman said.

The remodeling association’s volunteers – 50 of whom began work the first week of December – worked on eight to 10 houses in the area last year.

“This house had a child in need,” said Art Donnelly, president-elect of the group’s New York City/Long Island chapter.

He learned of the family’s plight through the world’s largest bone marrow donor center, DKMS, or DeleteBloodCancer.org, which is looking for a match for Steven.

“It was one of the many horror stories after Sandy, but different because Steven has such a severe form of cancer,” said Jack Kirkland, a donor recruitment coordinator with the group.

“They needed help to build this house to safeguard their son.”

The volunteers delivered a bigger living room with a 42-inch flat-screen TV over an electric fireplace. They also built a new eat-in kitchen with a marble counter top and a Sub-Zero refrigerator, repaired the patio, and replanted grass.

A surprise extra was new furniture throughout the house.

“The family had no clue,” Kirkland said.

The family had visited Disney World courtesy of the Make a Wish Foundation of Suffolk County. While there, Steven was invited to begin the theme park’s Indiana Jones show with “Lights, camera, action!”

Back home, the family is still in shock by the generosity shown them.

“I’ll never know how to repay them,” Danielle Heckman said.

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Former parole officer cops to kiddie porn charges

A onetime-senior state parole officer – who oversaw parole officers who supervised sex offenders – pleaded guilty on kiddie porn charges in Brooklyn federal court today, authorities said.

James Leone, 50, was arrested at his Long Island home in September after federal law enforcement agents searched his computer and found graphic photos and videos of children being abused, according to court documents.

Leone pleaded guilty to accessing child pornography with intent to view, confirmed Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn.

Before he became a parole officer, Leone worked as a New York City child abuse investigator, according to court documents.

The images Leone downloaded depicted girls ten or 12 years old being sexually abused by their parents and brother, according to court documents.

Leone remains in home detention on $500,000 bond, court documents and Nardoza said.

A woman who answered the phone at Leone’s home in Bethpage said he wasn’t there and said, “I don’t think he’s going to be talking to any reporters today.”

jsaul@nypost.com

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City audit shows faulty receipts filed by education officials to Bronx pizzeria

Their story stretched more than the mozzarella.

Education bureaucrats submitted apparently faulty receipts to justify hundreds of dollars of expenses at a Bronx pizzeria and other food purchases made by public schools, an audit found.

City Comptroller John Liu asked city investigators to look into the potentially fraudulent proof submitted after the fact for more than $500 in pizza and Pepsi purchases from Arturro’s Pizzeria in Marble Hill.

READ THE FULL AUDIT HERE

Officials in his agency said it wasn’t clear that the receipts were completely fabricated — only that they appeared to be created after the fact to cover-up lousy record-keeping by Ellis Prep Academy and its Department of Education managers.

The allegedly bogus bills were among a host of questionable credit-card purchases uncovered in an audit of five schools and their oversight office.

The review found that a whopping 64 percent of the $133,173 purchases examined were not documented or bid out properly — or weren’t justifiable expenses — including:

• $775 for five Kindles from Amazon.com

• $194 purchase from Costco.com labeled both as a refrigerator and as movie tickets

• $679 from Target.com for sofa beds.

• $1,292 for two dinner events at Calle Ocho Restaurant in The Bronx

The audit looked at only a small sample of the $17.2 million in credit card purchases by schools in fiscal 2011, and was the latest in a string of investigations that found poor oversight by the DOE.

“Greater care and discretion in the use of [credit]-cards is in order before outright waste and abuse ensues,” said Liu.

His office made 13 recommendations for how the DOE can boost its oversight of credit card purchases, 10 of which the agency backed.

A spokeswoman for the schools investigation office did not respond to an email and phone call asking whether it had opened a probe regarding the pizza pie receipts.

A DOE spokeswoman said the agency was told that a probe had already been closed with no positive findings.

“We implemented most of the Comptroller’s recommendations prior to the audit,” she said.

Additional reporting by Gillian Kleiman

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Cop shoots man near Brooklyn Technical High School after he lunged at him with scissors

Police shot and seriously wounded a 40-year-old man who charged at him with scissors in a building across the street from Brooklyn Technical HS in Fort Greene, according to authorities and sources.

The gunfire broke out just before 3:22 p.m. inside the apartment building 48 Fort Greene Place, between Lafayette and DeKalb avenues, authorities said.

Law-enforcement sources said the cop, who was alone, had been on his way to traffic court when a frantic person approached him and asked for help, saying there was a man wielding a sharp object.

The cop then went to 48 Fort Greene Place, where he confronted that hulking, 260-pound man, identified as Keary Green, who was wielding a pair of scissors, sources said.

When Green allegedly unged at the cop, the officer fired a single round, hitting the man in the stomach, the source said.

Green was rushed to nearby Kings County Hospital.

"All I heard was a gunshot," said Thomas McCormick, who lives several doors away from 48 Fort Greene Place. "I looked out the window, and the whole block was locked down. They dragged someone into an ambulance, and they took off down the block."

Residents of the block described Green as violent, and said his girlfriend lived in the building where he was shot.

"He was crazy! She was afraid of him," said a long-time resident of the block about Green and his girlfriend.. "He looked crazy . . . like he shouldn't be on the streets.

"She always looked scared," said the resident about Green's girlfriend.

"He was physically, mentally, verbally abusive. She know him from living on Long Island," the resident said. "I think they went to high school together. She knew him for some time . . . I think he tried to reel her back or something. He was just an abusive guy. He just looked crazy!"

Students from Brooklyn Technical were being dismissed from the school at the exit a block away from the shooting scene.

The officer involved in the shooting was transported to Methodist Hospital, but it is not known if that officer was injured in the incident.

Additional reporting by Larry Celona, Amy Stretten, Amber Sutherland and C.J. Sutherland

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