Crime & Safety

Crime Nearby: Car Fire, Tire Slashing Probed

Patch reports on crimes in other Long Island communities.

A look at recent crimes reported around Long Island in the last week.

Eastmeadow

Nassau County Police for answers regarding a car fire that appeared to be intentionally set and a series of car slashings that took place in East Meadow overnight Friday into Saturday.

Find out what's happening in Half Hollow Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to ex-Chief Carl Pugliese, firefighters were tending to a car fire on Morris Drive, which he said "appeared to be intentionally set,"  when they noticed the pattern of tire slashings.

A police investigation revealed there were approximately 27 vehicles with damage to tires on the surrounding streets, which include Bette Road, Nancy Drive and Cadillac Drive, police said.

Find out what's happening in Half Hollow Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Patch received photos from Michael Brennan from the car fire, and they are posted above. For more on this story, click .

Water Mill

Eleven days after Sister Jacqueline Walsh of Syosset was fatally struck by an SUV while on an evening walk on a quiet Water Mill street, have released the name and photograph of the man suspected to have been behind the wheel.

Carlos Armando Ixpec-Chitay, 30, was named as the suspect, described as a 30-year-old Hispanic male, with dark brown/black hair, brown eyes, 5 feet and 7 inches tall, and approximately 140 pounds. Police said he is known to frequent areas of Water Mill and Riverhead, and has a Guatemalan passport.

Police Chief William Wilson said he hopes the manhunt gets national media attention, because investigators now know the suspect has fled New York State.

Glen Cove

Police arrested one man and are searching for another in connection with a behind  late Thursday that left one man in critical condition, according to the .

Police received calls reporting gunshots shortly before 9:24 p.m. and arrived at a private social club at 248 Glen Street to find Ledio Spahija, 25, of Glen Cove bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to the neck. Spahija was treated by and taken to Winthrop University Hospital, where he underwent surgery and remains in critical condition, police said.

Agostino Sorace, 32, of Glen Cove was arrested and charged with attempted murder for allegedly driving the shooter to the scene following an argument between that suspect and the victim at the club, according to a statement from police. The shooting suspect is still at large.

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New Hyde Park

A father and son duo who are members of the were arrested Sunday on charges of stealing smoke detectors from the New Hyde Park stationhouse.

According to detectives from the , Michael Dolan, 68, and his son Michael J. Dolan, 32, both of whom live at the same address, removed 65 Kidde smoke detectors from a secured room in the New Hyde Park Fire Department located at 1555 Jericho Turnpike, on June 21 at 7:30 a.m.

Both men are members of the New Hyde Park Fire Department.

Massapequa

A man with a gun robbed a teen as he was walking down Clocks Boulevard Friday night, Nassau Police said.

The 19-year-old victim was walking with two of his friends, a 19-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy, when a car with two men inside approached them. A passenger displayed a black handgun and told the teens to give them their property, cops said. 

The victim gave up his cell phone and the robbers fled west on East Grove Street. Nobody was hurt.

Lindenhurst

Michael Grasing, the Babylon man accused of driving drunk and causing a car crash that killed  , is now facing a murder charge.

A grand jury indictment unsealed on Wednesday morning in a Riverhead court room is charging Grasing with second degree murder, the first time in recent memory a DWI has resulted in such a charge in Suffolk County.

In addition, he faces charges that include aggravated vehicular homicide, second degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, first degree reckless endangerment and aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Riverhead

Riverhead Police arrested Kyle Stoddard on July 16 on felony charges of burglary in the third degree. Police arrested Stoddard after investigating a burglary at the Riverhead Middle School which occurred in October of 2011. Police responded to an incident on Oct. 29 of last year, after it was reported that two cafeteria windows were smashed with a brick and a register containing cash was stolen, as were two fire extinguishers.

Sag Harbor

A Sag Harbor man had a rude awakening last week when first thing in the morning he found a naked man walking in the hallway and ducking into a bedroom. Rather then make an introduction, the man grabbed his wife, ran out of the house and called the police, who later found the naked man sleeping in a first floor bedroom. Police said the man had been highly intoxicated and let himself into the house, thinking it was a friend’s home. Later, the friend showed up to tell police that he'd been looking for his friend for hours. The couple decided not to press charges in exchange for $100 cash to pay for cleaning the bedroom.


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