Here we go again: Calif. Republican activist says pregnancies rare in rape cases

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The leader of a conservative faction within the California Republican Party said pregnancies by rape are rare because a woman's body is traumatized by the violence, recalling remarks that derailed a U.S. Senate candidate's campaign last year.

Celeste Greig, president of the California Republican Assembly, made the remarks to the San Jose Mercury News ahead of this weekend's state GOP convention in Sacramento.

Greig was responding to a question about former Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, who last year said women's bodies have the power to prevent pregnancy — or "shut that whole thing down" — after what he termed "a legitimate rape."

Greig said Akin's comment was insensitive and required an apology, but she then gave a similar remark.

"Granted, the percentage of pregnancies due to rape is small because it's an act of violence, because the body is traumatized," Greig told the newspaper. "I don't know what percentage of pregnancies are due to the violence of rape. Because of the trauma the body goes through, I don't know what percentage of pregnancy results from the act."

The newspaper cited statistics from a 2003 study by St. Lawrence University that showed women get pregnant after rape at a rate that is more than double that for a single act of consensual sex. Relying on data from U.S. National Violence Against Women survey, the study said the per-incident rape-pregnancy rate was 6.4 percent while the same rate for women having consensual sex was 3.1 percent per encounter.

Many Republicans blame the Akin comment on abortion and a later one by Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock for GOP setbacks in last fall's election. Mourdock, who also lost his Senate bid, was criticized after saying pregnancy resulting from rape is "something God intended."

Greig's comments come as the California Republican Party is trying to reboot its image after years of election defeats and registration declines.

The party has dropped below 30 percent in voter registration, does not hold a single statewide office, has less than one-third of the seats in the state Legislature and does not yet have a credible candidate to challenge Gov. Jerry Brown when he is up for re-election next fall.

Public opinion surveys show Republicans are consistently in the minority on a range of social issues supported by a majority of California voters.

Greig did not immediately respond to a telephone message and email asking whether she would like to elaborate on her comments to the newspaper.

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Woman sues, claiming FedEx sent her pot — then gave her address to intended recipients

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — A Massachusetts woman has sued FedEx, claiming the company mistakenly sent her a package containing seven pounds of marijuana, then gave her address to the intended recipients, who later showed up at her door.

Maryangela Tobin of Plymouth said in the suit filed Feb. 12 that by disclosing her address, the company violated state privacy laws and put herself and her children in danger.

"I feel like the safety of my daughters and myself was invaded and it makes things complicated," she told WBZ-TV. "I walk into my house first every time, my kids don't."

Tobin said she thought the package was a birthday present for her daughter, because when she opened it, she found candles, pixie sticks and peppermint. There was also something she thought was potpourri, but it was marijuana.

Tobin said that about an hour later, a man knocked on her door looking for the package, while two men sat in a vehicle in her driveway, waiting. She said she didn't have it, and bolted and slammed the door. Tobin claims FedEx gave out her address, which led the men to her home.

Police made an arrest, but Tobin said now she's worried about retribution.

Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx said it doesn't comment on pending lawsuits.

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Prostitute kidnapped, forced to service multiple 'Johns' before leaping through 6th floor Harlem window to escape: DA

A trio of Manhattan men held a female prostitute enslaved for two days in apartments on the Upper West Side and Harlem, forcing her to have sex with multiple additional "customers" until -- desperate to escape -- she jumped from a sixth story window, prosecutors said in describing a horrific rape-kidnapping case today.

The unnamed woman had gone last November to an escort job at an apartment on West 92nd St. and Columbus Avenue -- only to have her "John" steal her cell phone, money and identification, telling her, "You're not leaving the apartment -- you're working for me and making me money."

That first "John," -- an unapprehended man identified only as "Mike," struck her and held a pillow to her face when she protested, prosecutors say. The woman repeatedly snuck 911 calls on a cell phone she found in the apartment, but couldn't give an accurate address, and police were unable to save her, officials said.

The woman was taken the next night to a second apartment on West 149th Street -- where there were six or seven additional men waiting to have sex with her. "You do what I say in there," "Mike" allegedly threatened her again.

Instead, she climbed out of a window of the sixth-floor apartment -- attempting to use her jacket as a rope but instead falling to the ground, breaking both femurs and her back, according to the complaint against the two men who have been arrested as codefendants in the alleged rape-kidnapping so far.

Defendant Johnny Jackson, 53, told cops that his only involvement was in lending his apartment out so "Mike" could bring "a girl" over for prostitution. "She was OK with it," he insisted. "She didn't want to leave."

"My client is an honorably discharged Marine -- that's all I feel comfortable saying right now," Jackson's lawyer, Arnold Keith, said after Jackson and co-defendant Benjamin Gaston, 36, pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court.

"The facts of this crime are truly heinous," Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance said after today's arraignment. "These defendants are accused of holding a woman hostage in order to essentially enslave and prostitute her."

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2nd person arrested after missing mom found dismembered, scattered around Bronx nabe

A man has been busted for allegedly helping his friend chop up his own mother's body after a woman's dismembered remains were found in trash bags in the Bronx.

Sources said that the son will likely be charged with stabbing 45-year-old Tanya Byrd to death.

SON IN ALLEGED SAVAGE CHOP RAMPAGE: SOURCES

Her 23-year-old son, Bahsid McLean, and his acquaintance, 26-year-old William Harris, have been arrested on charges of unlawfully dissecting a human body and hindering prosecution — but not on murder or manslaughter charges.

Police say they're still investigating, and one of the men may be responsible for her death.

Tomas E. Gaston

Tanya Byrd's body was chopped up and scattered around her Bronx neighborhood.

It isn't immediately clear whether the suspects have lawyers. No phone numbers could be found for their homes.

Yesterday, sources told The Post that the lunatic son hacked up his mother and dumped her remains all over the neighborhood because the woman told him to grow up and move out.

The dismembered remains of the home health aide and devoted mother of three were found in four locations around Morrisania beginning at around 4 a.m. by a father and son walking their dog.

McLean confessed to the horrific crime — telling cops he did it, “basically because his mom wanted him to grow up and move out and be a man,” said a law-enforcement source.

Her body parts were wrapped in plastic, with some stuffed in luggage, cops said.

Police discovered a saw blade and gloves in their apartment, which reeked of bleach, the law-enforcement sources said. A box for a new Black & Decker handsaw was found in the apartment, but the tool was missing.

McLean, being held with charges pending last night, told cops he chopped up his mother in the bathtub, where he drained the blood, the sources said.

He and Harris were seen on surveillance video hauling the bags out of the house, the sources said. After at first confessing to the crime, he changed his story and said his cohort killed her.

“He and another guy are blaming each other,” said a law-enforcement source. “He’s constantly changing his story as we find more physical evidence. There’s no question he did it.”

The dog walkers who found some of the remains picked up two bags thinking they contained books, law-enforcement sources said.

They later realized it contained an arm and leg and called cops in a panic.

McLean was arrested for stealing cash from his mother in 2009.

His grandfather said the man was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was institutionalized for much of his childhood.

With AP. Additional reporting by Dan MacLeod

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Elderly woman targeted in elevator rape attempt

A twisted sicko tried to rape an elderly woman in an elevator of a Harlem apartment building late this morning and he was caught in the act, sources said.

The 74-year-old victim took the elevator to the floor she lives on in an East Harlem housing project and noticed a suspicious man lurking in the hallway around 11:30 a.m., sources said.

Sensing that something was wrong, she returned to the elevator, only to have the creep follow her and try to rape her as the lift continued on to other floors, sources added.

Another tenant trying to get on the elevator got a shock when the door opened to reveal the heinous crime in progress, sources said. That witness called 911, and the perpetrator was still inside the elevator when cops arrived to cuff him, the sources added.

The 50-year-old suspect, who also resides in the building where the attack occurred, is in custody but his name has not been released and he has not been formally charged yet.

kconley@nypost.com

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Teen caught with loaded BB gun in Harlem school

Police were called to a Harlem school today after a teenager was caught with a loaded BB gun, authorities said.

A teacher at P.S. 46 on Frederick Douglas Boulevard found out that the 13-year-old had the pellet gun just before 1 p.m. and notified the principal, cops said.

The boy refused to fork over the weapon, so the school called the police and the child’s parents, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Education.

"A student had a small BB gun, the parent was notified, NYPD was notified. He is at the 32nd precinct now with his mother. No problems, no one got injured," said principal George Young.

The child did not make any threats to use the gun and no one at the school was hurt, cops said.

"He should be punished, that's the only way he'll learn. You can do harm with a BB gun, he should be suspended," said David Lawrence, 26, who has two children that attend the elementary school.

He was brought to police station to be questioned and faces disciplinary action by the school, police and DOE said.

"It's kind of crazy for something like this to happen in an elementary school," said Luis Ramirez, 25.

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Man commits suicide by leaping in front of Manhattan subway train

G.N.Miller/New York Post

A train at the Manhattan subway stop where a man jumped to his death today.

A suicidal man died after jumping in front of a subway train in Manhattan this morning, police said.

The unidentified victim was near the edge of the platform at Eighth Avenue and West 23rd Street in Chelsea around 9:30 a.m. as the E train neared the station, sources said. He stepped back about 10 feet before taking a running leap just before the train arrived, sources added.

The MTA suspended C trains and rerouted E trains below 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue for about two hours after the incident.

kconley@nypost.com

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Bank moves to foreclose on Kiss guitarist

YORKTOWN — One of the founding members of the rock band Kiss is in danger of losing a New York home to foreclosure.

The Journal News newspaper reports that a bank initiated foreclosure proceedings on Feb. 15 on a Yorktown property owned by former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley.

The three-bedroom house is in a wooded area off the Taconic State Parkway north of New York City.

U.S. Bank National Association said in a court filing that Frehley stopped paying his mortgage in 2011. The Yorktown tax receiver's office also lists liens for thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes on the house.

UPI

Playing the blues: Guitarist singer Ace Frehley is in danger of losing his New York home.

Frehley was with Kiss in its 1970s heyday, performing in heavy makeup as a character known as the "Spaceman."

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Blame Barney! Researchers say character causing kids to think T. rex stood tall — beast really walked like a bird

Getting it right: 'Jurassic Park' depicts T-rex walking like a bird, rather than upright, as had been believed.

Here's a test of your dinosaur knowledge: Did Tyrannosaurus rex stand upright, with its tail on the ground?

The answer: No. But a lot of young people seem to think so, and the authors of a study are blaming toys like Barney and other pop influences for that misconception.

Scientists used to think T. rex stood tall, but they abandoned that idea decades ago. Now, the ferocious dinosaur is depicted in a bird-like posture, tail in the air and head pitched forward of its two massive legs.

The change led major museums to update their T. rex displays, study authors said, and popular books have largely gotten the posture right since around 1990. So did the "Jurassic Park" movies.

But when the researchers asked college students and children to draw a T. rex, most gave it an upright posture instead. Why? They'd soaked up the wrong idea from toys like Barney, games and other pop culture items, the researchers conclude.

"It doesn't matter what they see in science books or even in 'Jurassic Park,'" says Warren Allmon, a paleontology professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and an author of the study.

AP

No love for Barney from scientists, who say the kids show character is leading kids to cling to an outdated view of how Tyrannosaurus Rex really stood.The model outside the Museum of Science in Boston (right) isn't helping, either.

It struck him when he saw a box of dinosaur chicken nuggets at a grocery store.

"What they grew up with on their pajamas and their macaroni and wallpaper and everything else is the tail-dragging posture," he said.

If the explanation is correct, Allmon said, it's a sobering reminder of how people can get wrong ideas about science. The study will be published in the Journal of Geoscience Education.

The authors examined 316 T. rex drawings made by students at Ithaca College and children who visited an Ithaca museum. Most of the college students weren't science majors.

Seventy-two percent of the college students and 63 percent of the children drew T. rex as being too upright. Because the sample isn't representative of the general population, the results don't necessarily apply to young people in general.

When the authors looked at other depictions of T. rex, they found the obsolete standing posture remains in pop culture items like toys, games, cookie cutters, clothing, comics and movies.

Mark Norell, a prominent paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York who didn't participate in the study, said he doesn't know if the upright-posture myth is as widespread as the new study indicates.

But he said it makes sense that children's first impressions of T. rex can persist. If they don't study dinosaurs later, "that's what they're stuck with."

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Biden tries to rally support for gun control in Conn. speech

DANBURY, Conn. — Vice President Joe Biden is trying to rally support for the administration's proposals to curb gun violence, saying there will be a moral price to pay for inaction.

Biden is speaking Thursday at a conference in Danbury, Conn., just a few miles from the scene of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He says that America has changed its views of gun control since the Dec. 14 massacre of 26 people inside the Newtown school.

Other speakers, including the parents of a 7-year-old girl killed at Sandy Hook, urged Congress to honor the memories of the victims with strong action.

Getty Images

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a conference on gun violence at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut.

Meanwhile, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced he wants to immediately ban high-capacity ammunition magazines, require background checks for the transfer of firearms and expand the state's assault weapons ban.

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Unlucky in love: MTA struggling to seduce straphangers

Here’s one four-letter word straphangers just won’t use.

A new survey that asked subway riders what they “love” most about the MTA found that nearly a third refused to name anything.

“I don’t use the word ‘love’ in the same sentence with the ‘MTA,’” was the second most popular response in the multiple-choice survey, garnering 31 percent of the vote.

The majority of respondents — 38 percent — cited the “convenience” as the number one reason they loved the MTA.

Sixteen percent cited “other,” five percent said “my fellow riders,” and four percent said “my boss can’t reach me.”

Not one of the 248 respondents in the Straphangers Campaign Survey chose the “fare discounts” option.

“That’s sort of what I like the best,” said Gene Russianoff, head of the Straphangers. “I can live in New York without my car.”

He was also surprised that only 31 percent of people couldn’t pick something to love about the often maligned-agency, particularly because fare hikes are coming in weeks.

“We’re a grudging lot. New Yorkers are pretty picky about their government services,” he said.

The MTA said in a statement “We aim to give our customers reasons to love us – and even if they don’t, we’ll keep trying.”

jennifer.fermino@nypost.com

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1-year-old girl dies after coming into contact with radiator in Manhattan

A baby girl in Manhattan died this morning when she came into contact with a radiator, authorities said.

The 1-year-old was burnt about 6:15 a.m. in a Cathedral Parkway apartment near Morningside Drive, cops said.

When EMS arrived, she had gone into cardiac arrest, according to an FDNY spokesman.

The baby was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

No criminality is suspected at this time.

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Bronx thug bashes 6yo girl, father in laundromat

A crazed man was caught on surveillance video pummeling a man and his child inside of a Bronx laundromat.

The creep walked into the store on White Plains Road near Robertson Street on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. and attacked the 47-year-old victim, cops said.

The assailant is seen in the video throwing several punches at the victim and the victim’s 6-year-old daughter.

The suspect is between 25 and 35-years-old, police said.

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

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White House calls draft immigration plan a backup; it would let undocumented become citizens in 8 years

WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats alike on Sunday predicted President Barack Obama would fail if he pushed forward with his own effort to overhaul the nation's immigration system and urged the administration to hold off while lawmakers work on a bipartisan measure.

Republican Sen. John McCain predicted the administration's efforts would come up short if the White House went forward with a proposal to put the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. on a long pathway to citizenship. Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, who met with Obama on Wednesday at the White House to discuss progress, urged his allies in the administration to give a bipartisan group of eight lawmakers the time to hammer out a deal on their own.

Obama's newly appointed top aide, chief of staff Denis McDonough, said the White House would only send its plan to Congress if the lawmakers stumble in their efforts and cast its efforts as a backup plan.

"Well, let's make sure that it doesn't have to be proposed," McDonough said of the president's pitch, first reported on USA Today's website late Saturday.

"We will be prepared with our own plan if these ongoing talks between Republicans and Democrats up on Capitol Hill break down," McDonough said in a second interview, adding he's optimistic they would not crumble.

The administration's proposal would create a visa for those in the country illegally and allow them to become legal permanent residents within eight years. The proposal also requires businesses to know the immigration status of their workers and adds more funding for border security.

It drew immediate criticism from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

"If actually proposed, the president's bill would be dead on arrival in Congress, leaving us with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come," said Rubio, who is among the eight lawmakers searching for a comprehensive plan.

Many of the details in the administration's draft proposal follow the broad principles that Obama previously outlined. But the fact the administration is writing its own alternative signaled Obama wants to address immigration sooner rather than later and perhaps was looking to nudge lawmakers to move more quickly.

The tactic potentially complicates the administration's work with Congress.

Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin lawmaker who was his party's vice presidential nominee last year, said the timing of the leak suggested the White House was looking for "a partisan advantage and not a bipartisan solution."

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19-year-old college student dies after boozing in East Village; she had heart condition

A 19-year-old college student from Long Island collapsed inside an East Village lobby then died this morning after a night of bar-hopping, police sources said.

A doorman discovered Jocelyn Pascucci — a Stony Brook University student from East Meadow — unconscious in the lobby of the building at East 12th Street and Third Avenue just before 5 am.

She had been bar-hopping in the neighborhood and drinking heavily, which may have exacerbated her heart condition, law enforcement officials said.

Pascucco, a Marine Vertebrate Biology major, got separated from friends and walked a short distance to the apartment building, wearing only one shoe, police sources said.

A doorman told cops he let her into the building because she looked cold and drunk, police sources said.

Paramedics then rushed her to Beth Israel Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Cops said there was no sign of trauma.

Pascucco loved nature and dreamed of doing environmental conservation work, according to an online profile.

"I plan on going into conservation or consulting," she wrote.

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Stripping mom halts school assembly

ALBANY — Police say a parent who got on stage and started to strip during an upstate New York school assembly is facing child endangerment and lewdness charges.

Albany police say they arrested 24-year-old Aydrea Meaders at the North Albany Academy at about 10:30 a.m. Friday.

They say school staff told them the assembly was halted and the cafeteria cleared after Meaders began dancing onstage and took off some of her clothes.

She's charged with seven counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one of public lewdness.

An Albany City Court clerk says Meaders was arraigned Friday afternoon and ordered held on $3,000 bail. She doesn't have a lawyer yet.

The North Albany Academy is a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school in the Albany district.

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Devout Catholic SI mom sues city for not allowing daughter to attend class over religious exemption

A devout Catholic mom on Staten Island is suing the city, saying her daughter was barred from attending class because the Board of Education wouldn't recognize her religious exemption from receiving required medical vaccinations.

Dina Check, of West Brighton, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city accusing it of prohibiting her 5-year-old from attending PS 35 on Tuesday -- because of the family's belief that forced immunization violates important tenets of their faith.

"To inject invasive and unnatural substances into this divine creation is showing a lack of faith in God and His way," Check says in the lawsuit."Life is a gift from God, and the body is a marvelous work of divine creation to be reverenced as a temple of God."

The controversy was caused in part by a paperwork snafu - because her daughter already had been granted an exemption from vaccination on religious grounds by state health officials when she attended a YMCA preschool, Check says in the suit, filed in Brooklyn federal court this week.

To make matters worse, Check says she made repeated complaints to city school officials about the issue - only to see them fall on deaf ears, the suit says.

Despite her impassioned pleas asking officials to correct the paperwork error and list her daughter as being exempt from medical treatment on religious grounds, she received nothing more than a litany of e-mails from the Education Department denying her requests, the lawsuit claims.

Some of the correspondence Check sent to education officials quotes various passages of Scripture, Canon law proclamations from the Vatican, and contains earnest pleas asking the authorities to respect the family's religious beliefs.

In the lawsuit, Check also notes that her family physician had given a formal opinion that because the child suffers from immune deficiencies and gastrointestinal problems, immunization posed a medical risk for the girl.

But city school officials rejected that argument, too, ruling that the child's condition was insufficient to warrant exemption from vaccination based on medical grounds, the suit claims.

The suit charges that city school administrators violated laws that exempt children with deeply-held religious beliefs from receiving vaccines.

Check has asked a federal judge to intervene and force the city schools to exempt her daughter from future medical treatment. She also asks for unspecified damages.

mmaddux@nypost.com

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NYC homes damaged by Sandy should be reassessed now: Queens councilman

A Queens councilman today called on Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Finance to immediately reassess Big Apple homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy following Monday’s Post report that revealed thousands of affected property owners now face tax hikes.

“These homes have already been severely flooded – they shouldn’t be flooded with paperwork now,” said Councilman Peter Vallone, who is running for Queens Borough President.

“It is wrong for the city to force people that have already lost so much to go through an arduous appeals process just to receive a fair outcome. There must be records of the damage to specific homes at this point, and the city should reassess these properties immediately.”

Among the parts of Queens most heavily hit by Sandy were the Rockaways and Howard Beach.

Vallone also praised Council Speaker Christine Quinn for scheduling a joint-council-committee emergency oversight hearing Feb. 26 to investigate the shocking tax hikes to homeowners in hard-hit neighborhoods.

Although the city’s Web site says the assessments reflect property values as of January 5 – more than two months after Sandy struck -- the assessments were made prior to the storm because they are part of a capped, five-year state formula for setting assessment levels.

Many local real estate brokers say property values in Big Apple neighborhoods affected by Sandy -- such as Manhattan Beach and Coney Island in Brooklyn, the Rockaways and parts of Staten Island -- have fallen due to storm damage and because prospective buyers are now leery of living in high-risk hurricane evacuation zones.

Finance Department spokesperson Owen Stone said, “As the councilman knows, we are required by state law to release tentative assessments in January, and as we have said since the storm hit, we will physically inspect damaged homes to ensure their final assessments are correct when released in May."

Property owners who oppose the hikes have until March 15 to appeal to the city Tax Commission before rates are finalized in May.

Stone also said the deadline to apply for the Finance Department’s new Hurricane Sandy Property Tax Relief program has now been extended a month to March 15.

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Fugitive cop Christopher Dorner in mountain shootout with LA cops

Fugitive former cop Christopher Dorner and law enforcement officers exchanged gunfire today in the mountains east of Los Angeles, officials said.

Two officers have been wounded so far in the shootout, according to multiple Southern California media reports, citing police radio traffic.

Dorner has been the target of a massive manhunt in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona after he allegedly killed three people.

The former LAPD cop’s truck was found burning in Big Bear, about two hours east of LA, on Thursday.

Today, Dorner allegedly stole a car and burglarized a Big Bear cabin, tying up a couple inside, law enforcement sources said.

AP

Suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer.

Authorities responded to the burglary which led to the shootout.

Dorner’s alleged killing spree is tied to his hatred of the LAPD. The department fired him, saying he lied in accusing a superior of roughing up a mentally disturbed man under arrest.

The bloodshed began on Feb. 3 when Cal State Fullerton assistant women’s basketball coach Monica Quan and her fiance Keith Lawrence were shot to death in their car in Irvine, Calif.

Quan is the daughter a former LAPD captain-turned-lawyer who unsuccessfully represented Dorner at his departmental hearing.

Dorner was named as a suspect on Wednesday night, before he allegedly killed defenseless officer Michael Crain, who was stopped at red light in Riverside, Calif.

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eMarketer sees new home in 11 Times Square

The bright lights of 11 Times Square will soon shine brighter, thanks to four new office and retail leases at the striking new tower at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street.

On the office side, eMarketer, the leading provider of data on digital marketing and media, is moving from downtown. The deal for 53,573 square feet – not yet signed, but likely to be this week, sources said -- will bring the 1.1 million square-foot 11 Times Square to comfortably over 70 percent leased.

Law firm Proskauer Rose moved into over 400,000 square feet two years ago and Microsoft recently signed for 200,000 feet more.

Meanwhile, three new store leases have filled all of 11 Times Square’s retail space.

In the largest, Senor Frog’s, a Mexican-themed eatery/entertainment venue, will open its first northeast outpost in 21,000 square feet. Bank of America signed for a retail branch of 2,393 square feet and Off the Wall Frozen Yogurt took 2,500 square feet.

Global Foods International took 25,000 square feet last year.

The corner now occupied by 11 Times Square was a dangerous mugging ground as recently as 10 years ago. The tower’s developer, SJP Properties, built it “on spec” (without pre-signed tenants).

Like just about every new Manhattan spec tower, it found its footing after a brief dry period that strained its owners and drew sniping from real estate pundits unfamiliar with history. SJP owns the tower with Prudential Financial Inc.

scuozzo@nypost.com

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