A New York Kind of Thing

These guys should not be sent to the slammer. They should become urban heroes, comedy division.

If you are too lazy to click to the AP story, until earlier this week there were three buddies. One died. Depending on who you believe, either before or after his passing, his two friends wheeled him, in an office chair, down to the local check cashing place to assist him in cashing his social security check (or to steal the money from a corpse). A detective happened to see the procession of friends while in a restaurant across the street and went over to inquire. According to Detective Rapp in the AP article: “He ordered the men to back away from the victim. They feigned surprise when paramedics declared him dead, Rapp said. ‘When they said, 'Your friend is dead,' they said, 'Oh my God, he's gone?'"

I’m with the guys on this one, who’s to say he wasn’t a bit under the weather and needed a ride down to the store to cash his check, tragically expiring on the way. There are some messy details about he was naked when he allegedly died before the trip and his friends partially dressed him before ensconcing him in the rolling chair. Oh, and the fact that his sister worked at the check cashing place and recognized his apparent pallor (NYTimes.com). Oh, and his two buddies have rap sheets going back to the Sixties.

Finally, did you know one of the charges was under an ordinance “'cadavers: duty of burial,' ...described as a failure to 'to decently bury or incinerate within a reasonable time after death, the body of the deceased person.'” My thought is that he might have enjoyed the last ride with it's drama down the street in Hell's Kitchen.