Here’s a story that made my blood boil, and I’m guessing it’ll do the same to yours. According to the stories from several news sources, police in Wakefield, a suburb of the Bronx, thought they saw an 18- year-old man named Ramarley Graham on the street buying drugs. They tried to arrest him, he took off, and then the tale turns deadly.

According to The New York Times and other outlets — including NY1, which released a surveillance video capturing some of Graham’s lastmoments— police spottedGraham in a known drug location lastThursday afternoon purchasing what they believed were narcotics. They also saw what they thought might be the butt of a weapon in the waistband of his pants. They followed him from the scene of the suspected drug buy, and shortly thereafter ordered him to stop. He did not. Instead, he ran to the front door of his grandmother’s house a short distance away, went inside and locked the door.

Several police officers showed up seconds later, and tried to kick the door open. When they were unsuccessful, they spent several minutes — certainly long enough to calm down — walking around the house, looking for another way in. Eventually, they entered the home of Patricia Hartley, 58 — Graham’s grandmother — through a first-floor entrance in the landlord’s apartment. The door to the second-floor bathroom was closed and locked. They suspected Grahamwas inside. They kicked the door open. According to police accounts, one of the officers yelled “Gun!” and then opened fire.

Graham died on the floor of his grandmother’s bathroom, apparently trying to flush some marijuana down the toilet. He had no weapon. His grandmother and his 6-year-old brother witnessed the shooting.

Instead of being allowed to grieve the loss of her grandson, whose death she had just witnessed, or care for the 6-year-old, Hartley was taken to the police station and interrogated for seven hours. She claims she was forced to make a statement against her will. Carlton Berkley, a family friend and retired police detective, said Hartley did not hear police yell “Gun!” before they shot.

Was race a factor in the killing? I don’t know, but I know this: Graham was black, and all the cops in the surveillance video are white. Police Officer Richard Haste, 30, the first officer inside the home, and Sgt. Scott Morris, 36, whowas on the stairwell when the gunfire rang out, have had their weapons and badges taken away, and they’ve both been placed on administrative duty until an investigation is completed.

It won’t be up to me to pass judgment on their actions, and that’s probably a good thing. But here’s one judgment I can make: if race wasn’t a factor, then Ramarley Graham, 18, died over a bag of weed.

According to many recent polls, including Gallup and CBS, between 40 and 49 percent of Americans (including myself) believe marijuana should be legalized outright. Graham’s deathwill add a few more believers to our ranks.

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I don’t know whatAssemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) is doing today, but I suspect he’s trying to figure out what’s making the racket he hears outside his window. Wisniewski, the state Democratic chairman — who chairs the Assembly Transportation, Public Works and Independent Authorities Committee, which routinely deals with matters regarding the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — has been one of several lawmakers critical of Gov. Chris Christie for turning the authority into what the lawmakers called a “high-priced patronage mill,” according to a story in The Star-Ledger. But it seems he wasn’t above playing the patronage game himself. Last May, according to The Star-

Ledger story, Wisniewski wrote a letter to an authority official

urging the hiring of a fellow named Christopher Egan. In part, his letter said: “I write to offer my highest personal recommendation on behalf of Mr. Christopher Egan … I know Mr. Egan to be an intelligent, hard working, and motivated individual who would make a great addition to your team. I have attached his extensive resume for your review.”

Slight problem. Egan, who apparently didn’t get the job, told the newspaper reporter who wrote the story that not only did he not know Wisniewski, he didn’t know how the assemblyman got his name, or why he approached the authority on his behalf. “Maybe someone that he knows maybe knew that I was looking for work,” he speculated. Asked to explain, Wisniewski said that although his letter suggested otherwise, he really didn’t know Egan after all, and that the letter he sent to the authority was only a “form letter” generated by his “office” on behalf of a constituent. It was sort of a variation on the old, but still popular, “throw a staffer under the bus” ploy.

Do we buy it? I think not. That racket you hear, Mr. Wisniewski, is the sound of B.S. detectors going off in homes all over your district.

• • •

This morning, I heard from Barbara Keegan, director of the Sayreville Pet Adoption Center, who said, in part:

“Allowme to express my deepest gratitude to you for featuring Sayreville Pet Adoption Center’s story in your column on January 19. You have a LOT of faithful readers (myself included), because the outpouring of support to SPAC following publication of that column was absolutely overwhelming. Pet food, supplies, cash, checks and volunteers have been pouring in from all over the area! Also, many fundraising events are being planned for us, some by folks we have never even met before.

“Thanks to the generosity of all these new friends, our situation is gradually improving and we are now ‘in a safe zone’ to be able to keep operating for the first quarter of 2012 and even a bit intoApril. What a relief to us. Thanks so much for using the power of your written word to raise awareness of our situation. You are a lifesaver — literally — for these animals who need us.”

No thanks necessary, Barbara, just doing my job. But I’ll say thanks to my generous readers for their gifts and spirit of volunteerism. Now, let’s keep SPAC going for the rest of the year, and the years after.

Contact Gregory Bean at gbean@gmnews.com.