NYC BRIEFS

Suspect arrested in 9 area bank robberies

Authorities have arrested a tall suspect in a string of nine bank robberies in New York and New Jersey.

He was dubbed the "Holiday Bandit" because he pulled several of the armed holdups during the holiday season.

Investigators said they captured him Tuesday after he was spotted driving a car stolen during a robbery of a bank in Edison, N.J. The FBI said the 6-foot-5 suspect made off with more than $50,000 in some of his heists.

Marat Makhaylich was to be arraigned yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn. The name of his lawyer was not immediately available. -- AP

Auction offers rare Gauguin sculpture

A rare wooden sculpture by Paul Gauguin is heading for the auction block in Manhattan. It's estimated to bring $10 million to $15 million.

"Jeune tahitienne" depicts a Tahitian girl. The artist carved it in the 1890s during his first visit to the South Pacific islands. Gauguin himself collected and strung the shells and coral on the necklace around the statue's neck.

The sculpture is being offered by a New England collector on May 3 at Sotheby's. It hasn't been seen publicly in 50 years. It will go on view in Manhattan on April 29, after being shown at Sotheby's galleries in Hong Kong and London.

Sotheby's says it's the only known fully worked, three dimensional bust made by Gauguin. -- AP

Jurors being picked in officers' rape trial

Jury selection has started in the rape trial of two New York City police officers accused of preying on a woman they were called to help.

The selection process started Tuesday after a judge dismissed some misconduct counts against Officers Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata. Both still face rape, burglary and other misconduct counts. They deny doing anything criminal in their December 2008 dealings with the 27-year-old woman.

Moreno and Mata escorted her to her Manhattan apartment after a cabbie reported she was too drunk to get out of his taxi. Prosecutors said Moreno then raped her, and Mata acted as a lookout.

Authorities said the two returned to her apartment three times, soon after the initial visit. -- AP

Ex-cop indicted in wife's strangulation

A grand jury has indicted a Bronx man on murder charges in the strangulation of his wife.

Eddy Coello is being held without bail and says he is not guilty. He was arrested last week, on the day Tina Adovasio was buried.

The 40-year-old nurse, a mother of four, disappeared on March 11. Her body was found five days later in the woods near the Taconic State Parkway in suburban Yorktown.

Police had visited their tidy Throgs Neck home at least once on a domestic violence call. She was seeking to separate from Coello.

Coello is a former New York City police officer who left the force in 2000 amid a domestic violence investigation involving a former wife. He has been working as a physician's assistant. -- AP

War on bedbugs gets tougher on landlords

New York City officials have long been limited in what they could do to get negligent landlords to address the spread of bedbugs. But now city officials are announcing a policy change that could leave landlords facing harsher penalties.

The City Council and housing and health officials said Tuesday that when inspectors find bedbug infestations the city will now issue Health Department abatement orders that carry stiffer penalties than the violations handed out by housing officials.

The change means that officials can lay out guidelines for the kind of pest control strategies landlords should adopt and can require landlords to treat the apartments surrounding the one with the infestation. If landlords don't comply, the city could ultimately take liens out on their properties that can be sold to collectors. -- AP