Crime & Safety

Crimes Nearby: Nassau Cop From Babylon Village Shot Dead

Patch reports on crime around other Long Island communities.

Nassau County police officer and Babylon Village resident Arthur Lopez was fatally shot near the Cross Island Parkway in Bellerose Terrace Tuesday morning.

According to the New York Post, Lopez, an eight-year veteran of the force and a member of the Emergency Services Unit, was shot near the Cross Island Parkway and Jamaica Avenue in the vicinity of the Belmont Racetrack.

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"He's a true hero, a very decorated police officer of eight years, and he lost his life to a cold-blooded murderer today," Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said.

The alleged gunman, 33-year-old Darrell Fuller, was arrested in Jamaica Tuesday evening with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He is currently in police custody at Jamaica Hospital.

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Deer Park

A Deer Park man was charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident after hitting a bicyclist near McDonald's on Route 58 in Riverhead and then, fleeing, Monday evening, police said.

Riverhead Town police responded to the report of a motor vehicle accident on Monday at 6:49 p.m. and found the bicyclist in the roadway on Route 58, just west of McDonald's. Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance responded to the scene and transported bicyclist Leslie Harrist, 40, of Ridge to Peconic Bay Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Police say the driver of the vehicle that struck the bicyclist fled the scene. Officers searched for the vehicle and gathered a description from witnesses; a description was sent to area police agencies.

Shortly after the accident, a New York State Police officer spotted a vehicle fitting the description heading westbound on the Long Island Expressway. After an investigation, it was determined that the vehicle was the same as the one involved in the accident.

Police arrested Robert Michael, 47, of Deer Park and charged him with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. He was held for morning arraignment.

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A Deer Park man will arraigned on Tuesday for his alleged role in what the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office is calling a lucrative marijuana and Ketamine trafficking operation.

Wayne Percetti, 42, of Deer Park, is one of 13 men that were scheduled to appear before a judge in a Riverhead courtroom. He, along with his co-defendants are facing drug charges for their alleged role in selling marijuana, the district attorney’s office said.

The arrests come after a 10-month joint investigation by the D.A.’s office and the Suffolk County Police narcotics squad that used electronic surveillance and wiretaps, Suffolk D.A. Thomas Spota said.

Details of the investigation were scheduled to be unveiled by Spota at a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Riverhead, but the meeting was postponed after the shooting of a Nassau County police officer.

West Babylon

Police arrested a West Babylon man Sunday afternoon on a felony DWI charge after he was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol with his 15-year-old son in the car.

Igor Naida, 38, was driving his 1994 Mercedes-Benz westbound on the Sunrise Highway North Service Road and Sands Street in West Babylon around 1:25 p.m. when an officer saw the Mercedes traveling at a high rate of speed and pulled Naida over after he failed to signal, police said. 

Naida was arrested and charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child 15 years old or younger ( a felony Leandra’s Law), driving while intoxicated and endangering the welfare of a child.

Long Beach

Marlene Maggiore, a 46-year-old Long Beach resident, was arrested and charged with attempted murder after police said she pushed her 78-year-old mother down a flight of stairs in their East End home last week.  According to the Long Beach Police Department, police answered a call about a domestic dispute at a home on Neptune Boulevard, where Leonard Maggiore told officers at the scene that his daughter pushed his wife, Josephine, down a flight of stairs. Josephine sustained three broken ribs, lacerations and swelling to the back of her head and pain in her left shoulder, and the Long Beach Fire Department transported her to Long Beach Medical Center, according to police.


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