Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York • 19

I STATE CITY -iP D'Amato Asks Tough NY Drug Law New York Calling drug dealers "the scum of the earth who should not be given these incredible protections" Sen Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) urged the State Assembly yesterday to follow the State Senate's lead and empower law enforcement authorities to seize dealers' homes businesses money and other assets "The State Senate has already sent drug dealers a message when you're sent to prison your empire of wealth is lost forever" said D'Amato the US senator who in 1984 coauthored federal legislation that greatly broadened the powers of federal authorities to confiscate dealers' assets "It's time for the Assembly to quickly pass similar legislation and let the drug dealers know that their free ride is over" D'Amato made his remarks at a press conference before a joint hearing of the State Senate and Assembly Codes Committees He was flanked by several State Senate Republicans including Frank Padavan of Queens Village who sponsored both the state's Asset Forfeiture Law in 1985 and a Senate amendment to toughen it that was passed in June Under current law authorities can seize anything short of real estate such as cars or boats if a district attorney can prove in civil court that such objects were used to commit a felony The Senate bill would extend the law to include "real property" or buildings Padavan said it would allow a building to be seized if a DA could present a "preponderance of evidence" that it was used to store sell or manufacture illicit drugs and that the tenant or landlord knew of the activity The bill has been endorsed by the state's Law Enforcement Council the District Attorneys Association Attorney General Robert Abrams and Gov Mario Cuomo A similar bill has been introduced in the Assembly by Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) chairman of the Codes Committee who co-chaired yesterday's hearing with Sen Dale Volker (R-Depew) his Senate counterpart Several politicians and legal experts testified including Mayor Edward Koch Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and Norman Siegel executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union "I am here today to urge you to enact a potent forfeiture statute that will enable us to fight drug traffickers more effectively" Morgenthau said Confiscated assets help pay for law enforcement as well as drug education and treatment programs Siegel strongly opposed the Senate bill saying it "very much compromised the constitutional principle that government should not deprive individuals of life or liberty or property without due process of law" Siegel cited an incident in January in which federal marshals evicted four families from a townhouse in Jamaica because of a chronic crack-dealing problem at the building Police said none of the eight adults and 1 1 children evicted were involved but the families became homeless "If the government is going to seize real property they must either manage the building or appoint a receiver to keep it going" he said Siegel said that while the Assembly bill addresses the question of innocent people being evicted it should tic st n'ligthenedPptt In an interview Silver said the Assembly bill would require proof that three incidents of drug activity rather than one had occurred in a building before it could be seized He said Koch asked for the toughest forfeiture sanctions "within the Constitution" "I'm more concerned about the rights of society than the rights of drug pushers" he said Mom Missing Son Reunited After 2 Years CHILD from Page 7 Ray Arauz 39 of Saugus Calif and Jim Wahl 20 of Alma Ark about the child but the two could not provide any proper identification or documentation to establish legal guardianship The officer then took Arauz and Wahl who had less than $40 between them and no apparent means of income along with Brendan to the First Precinct station house for questioning Several hours later Broderick 27 who then identified himself as Gary Davis went to the station house and said that the boy was his son and that the child's mother had abandoned him shortly after birth Although he called the boy "Bubba" Broderick refused to divulge the baby's name and date of birth or turn over any identification Police charged all three men with endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree kidnaping based on their failure to show any relationship to the child and they were held on bail of $20000 each Brendan was placed in the custody of the Child Welfare Administration On Aug 7 detectives traced Broderick to Arkansas through his two church companions and learned he was wanted by state and federal authorities for custodial interference and fleeing prosern tion Soon afterward Weinzetl was contacted and was reunited with Brendan on Monday afternoon in the Manhattan district attorney's office 'I Thought I'd Never See Him Again' since leaving a religious group known as the Holiness Tabernacle Church or Holy Alamo Christian Church in Alma Ark which FBI investigators call a cult on Aug 25 1987 Weinzetl said that her husband Brian Broderick kept the boy then only 17 days old and Weinzetl's 2-year-old daughter Jackie from her first marriage after she left the church Weinzetl who belonged to the church for 10 months claims she was forced to marry Broderick then learned their marriage was not legal Although Weinzetl soon obtained Arkansas state court orders for custody of the two children Broderick returned only Jackie five months later leaving her at his mother's house and then allegedly fled with Brendan After that she pressed the FBI media and missing children organizations to find her boy Her only lead was the church headed by Tony Alamo whose real name is Bernard Lazar Hoffman and its believers across the country Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau yesterday gave this account of how Brendan was found: Just before 1:15 pm on Aug 3 Mary Higgins a New Jersey woman who works in tourism was walking along Howard Street in lower Manhattan and spotted two men in a car with a small child hiding in the back seat The diapers food and clothing strewn inside made it appear as though the three were living in the car and Higgins became suspicious She called 911 Police Officer Ralph Luisi questioned By Barbara Whitaker New York Both mother and son have warm hazel eyes Their light brown hair curls softly That they are related seemed obvious But the 2-year-old boy reached as easily for the police officer standing nearby at yesterday's news conference as he did for his mother To him they seemed equally familiar After all before their reunion Monday Brendan had not seen his mother since he was 1 7 days old "I thought I'd never see him again" said Mary Lou Weinzetl whose son was returned to her Monday after being found in a van in Manhattan As Brendan munched on Skittles from a paper cup his 25-year-old mother broke into tears Every week for the past two years Weinzetl who left her son and daughter behind when she broke from a religious cult in Alma Ark called the FBI hoping for news She took her story to the media contacted politicians and a variety of organizations including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The child she saw Monday surprised her "I didn't expect Brendan to be as big as he was" Weinzetl said "I had a lot of mixed feelings and emotions I was afraid I was going to scare him more than he was" At the first meeting she recalled "I just wanted to hug him and kiss him but he pushed me away" In a December 1988 Woman's World article she wrote Weinzetl who won't say exactly where she lives near Chicago said she joined Alamo Christian Churches in October 1986 after she was divorced from her first husband in suburban Illinois "I wanted a new start and a good home for my 1-year-old daughter Jackie" Weinzetl said explaining that she was "lonely and had no one 1 could look to for sup port" She had called an 800-number for information about the church before moving to Arkansas in 1986 At first she said the life was ideal She had no responsibilities and she "grateful to be guided and protected" She worked for Tony Alamo the leader of the group sewing rhinestone-cov-ered clothes that were sold to country western singers Soon however the church began making personal decisions from her "family life to sex life" Just weeks into her stay she was told she would be marrying Brian Broderick who became Brendan's father Although she fell in love with him Weinzetl said she became disenchanted with the church urging her husband to leave it along with her The breaking point came she said when she went In a lawyer about having her marriage annulled and found it wasn't legal in the first place Cops Seek Links to Other Baby Snatchings yesterday that police now are looking into the abduction of Andre Bryant whose mother Monique Rivera was found murdered in Brooklyn on March 29 "It's a completely different area and different circumstances but we're looking into it" Fenrich said Rivera was last seen leaving her Bushwick home with the infant to go shopping with a high school acquaintance and another woman Her body lice have not found the infant nor the women who allegedly accompanied Rivera Police at the time said they believed the abduction was part of a baby-selling ring Fenrich said police also will review a 1987 case in which a 2'2-week-old girl was abducted from Harlem Hospital Center Carlina White disappeared from the hospital and was never found Police had been looking for a woman who had posed as a nurse while it may not have been the same abductor it may be part of the same ring Christopher 2 disappeared May 18 and Shane 19 months old vanished Thursday from the same park Both were last seen playing with the same 1 0-year-old girl and her 5-year-old brother who also live in the same housing complex the Martin Luther King Towers Meanwhile Rose Lee Glover Shane's mother said new rumors are floating around the complex that Shane By Karen Davy and Elaine Rivera New York Police investigating the disappearance of two Harlem toddlers are looking into the abduction of a 6-week-old boy earlier this year to see if there are any connections Police have said that Christopher Dansby and Shane Walker abducted in separate incidents from the same Harlem playground at 114th Street and Lenox Avenue may have been snatched as part of a baby-stealing ring Denutv Chief Ronald Fenrich said Aundo In LhL U-0 j-ucei 1 1 abduct: was found the next day in the 1 -boinewhwrt- yi lint dftufi South yj- jaearXIjty Islarjd Roadjin the Bronx re striding hildlefs wornf Ct I I 1 i.