Just released! Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and First Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate a man who forcibly touched a woman in a Farmingdale parking lot last September.
A man approached a woman in a shopping center parking lot, located at 241 Airport Plaza, and touched her inappropriately at approximately 8:40 p.m. on September 6, 2023. The man left the scene on a bicycle.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the men who allegedly stole from a Medford store last month.
Two men allegedly stole merchandise valued at $529 from Target, located at 2975 Horseblock Road, on February 14 at approximately 6:15 p.m.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on Feb. 27 that Hayden Daley, 28, of Deer Park, was indicted for Rape in the Second Degree and other related charges, for allegedly repeatedly raping a 13-year-old child who was a resident of the WellLife Network in Dix Hills while he was employed there.
“Children, particularly those who are vulnerable due to their life circumstances, deserve the utmost protection,” said District Attorney Tierney. “My office is committed to holding accountable anyone who abuses their position of authority to sexually exploit others.”
According to the investigation, in May 2023, Daley was a Child Support Professional at the WellLife Network, a residential facility for children operated by the New York State Office of Mental Health. Over the course of several months, Daley allegedly subjected the 13-year-old victim to numerous acts of sexual abuse which occurred both inside and outside of the group home. After Daley learned that he was under investigation for these alleged crimes, he quit his job at the WellLife Network. However, Daley allegedly continued to meet the victim outside of the group home on various occasions and sexually abused her.
On January 20, 2024, Daley allegedly drove to the group home and attempted to pick up the victim in his car, but an employee at the facility called the police. When the police arrived, they placed Daley under arrest.
On February 26, 2024, Daley was arraigned on the indictment before County Court Judge, the
Honorable Karen M. Wilutis, for the following charges:
Five counts of Rape in the Second Degree, Class D felonies;
Eight counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the Second Degree, Class D felonies;
One count of Rape in the Third Degree, a Class E felony;
Three counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the Third Degree, Class E felonies;
Two counts of Sexual Misconduct, Class A misdemeanors; and
One count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A Misdemeanor.
Judge Wilutis ordered Daley to be held on $80,000 cash, $160,000 bond, or $800,000 partially secured bond during the pendency of the case. Daley is due back in court on April 1, 2024, and is being represented by Robert Macedonio, Esq.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katherine Flinchum of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau with investigative assistance from Detective Matthew Garcia of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Second Squad.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on Feb. 27 that Messiah Booker, also known as Matthew Booker, 38, of Riverhead, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of his involvement in a May 2022 shooting that occurred while he was on parole release from prison for a separate felony.
“With this sentence, we want the public to know that we are holding perpetrators of violence accountable,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This happened in broad daylight in the parking lot of an apartment complex full of people. Violence will not be tolerated in Suffolk County.”
The evidence at trial established that on May 20, 2022, Booker got into a verbal dispute with a teenager in the parking lot area of an apartment complex in downtown Riverhead. As the argument escalated, Booker threatened to shoot the juvenile, and then briefly entered his black Jeep Compass before returning with a loaded gun in a fanny pack. Booker then began to pull the gun from the fanny pack, causing him to flee for his life.
The victim’s family arrived at the apartment complex shortly thereafter, at approximately 3:50 p.m.,
and Booker began to argue with them. During the argument, a large crowd gathered in front of the building. Booker went back to his Jeep, retrieved the same loaded firearm from earlier, and shot at one of the people in the crowd. The bullet ricocheted off the ground and struck another victim in the forearm. Booker then fled the scene on foot.
Riverhead Town Police Department officers responded to the scene and located a 9 mm shell casing
from the shooting. Booker’s Jeep Compass, which was still at the scene, was impounded and a search
of its contents was conducted pursuant to a search warrant. During the search, law enforcement
recovered drugs including cocaine and morphine, over $1,000 in small denomination bills, four
cellular phones, walkie-talkies, a tactical vest, 9 mm ammunition, a digital scale typically used to
weigh narcotics, and drug packaging material including glassine envelopes.
Law enforcement tracked Booker’s movements with assistance from the United States Marshals
Service, and he was apprehended days later and placed under arrest.
On February 27, Booker was convicted after a jury trial heard before Acting Supreme Court
Justice, the Honorable Anthony S. Senft, Jr. of the following charges:
Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Class C violent
felonies;
Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree: with the
Intent to Sell, Class D felonies;
Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, Class
A misdemeanors;
One count of Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia in the Second Degree, a Class A
misdemeanor; and
One count of Menacing in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor.
Prior to this incident, Booker had five felony convictions, two of which were violent felonies. In
particular, Booker was convicted in 2017 of Attempted Burglary in the Second Degree, a Class D
violent felony, for his role in a home-invasion burglary. Booker was released to parole supervision
in 2019 and was still on parole for that conviction at the time of this incident.
On February 27, 2024, Justice Senft sentenced Booker to 25 years to life in prison. He was represented by Ian Fitzgerald, Esq.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys William Richards and Raymond Coscia of the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Richard Freeborn of the Riverhead Town Police Department.
Charles Wildbank with his painting Emergence 2, 6'5" x 12'5," acrylic on panel.
The community is invited to an art reception on March 14.
Charles Wildbank: Beyond the Visible, an exhibit of large-scale paintings will be on view at Suffolk County Community College’s Lyceum Gallery on the Eastern Campus in Riverhead from March 7 through April 13, 2024. A reception will be held on Thursday, March 14 from 4 to 6 p.m.
Charles Wildbanks’s work has shifted toward a new abstract Surrealism that bridges past with present. For over 50 years, Wildbank has created mural-size, photorealistic paintings. His recent Emergence series brings viewers on a dynamic journey where color and form swirl in an immersive world. On view are two of Wildbank’s 6.5’ x 12.5’ acrylic paintings that span across multiple panels.
Wildbank comments on this new phase in his work, “With due respect to our world concerns, I’ve composed churning environments. From an array of different senses, I continue to reach, and find ways to portray sensation beyond the visible. Realities, both past and present, overlap and connect, gaining new meaning.”
In an intriguing play that bridges past with present, Wildbank will also exhibit his memorable David Hockney portraits from the ‘80s with his recent painting of delighted Hockney retrospective attendees with Hockney’s iconic portrait of Henry Geldzahler at the 2017 MOMA Hockney Retrospective.
Born in Roslyn Heights, NY, Wildbank received a B.F.A. (cum Laude) from Pratt Institute in 1970. He was awarded a Yale University School of Music and Art fellowship. He then earned an M.A. in Education at Columbia University in 1972. Wildbank had a studio in Sands Point for a number of years. He moved to Hollywood, CA, for four years, and returned to the east coast in 1989 settling in Jamesport. Throughout his long career, Wildbank designed window displays for Bonwit Teller in NYC and Beverly Hills, CA. In 1983, Cartier on Fifth Avenue presented a salon exhibit of Wildbank’s canvases including his 8’ painting of the famed Cartier Diamond. Wildbank’s work is in the collections of the General Electric offices in Rockefeller Center, the MBNA Bank Headquarters, and the Cunard, Queen Mary 2 cruise ship. Wildbank’s work is in many private collections in the USA and internationally in Japan, Amsterdam, Italy, England, and Martinique.
For more information about Charles Wildbank work visit: www.wildbank.com
Lyceum Gallery hours are:
Monday – Thursday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Closed Sundays and holidays
Contact the Lyceum Gallery at Montaukett Learning Resource Center for more information: (631) 548-2536
About Suffolk County Community College
Suffolk County Community College is the largest community college in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, enrolling approximately 21,000 students at its three campuses in Selden, Brentwood and Riverhead. Suffolk offers the Associate in Arts (A.A.), Associate in Science (A.S.), and Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees, as well as a variety of certificate programs. Offering affordable college tuition, a highly respected Honors program, workforce training programs, extensive extracurricular activities, championship athletic teams, and numerous transfer programs, Suffolk is a first-choice college for Long Island students. Visit us online at sunysuffolk.edu.
Even modest exercise can affect your genes. METRO photo
By David Dunaief, M.D.
Dr. David Dunaief
Last week, I wrote that we should not rely on exercise for weight loss. Exercise is still important, though. It can alter how our genes express themselves and improve our outcomes with diseases and other health issues, such as diabetes, kidney stones, osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease and breast, colorectal and endometrial cancers (1).
Despite all the positives, it can be difficult to motivate yourself to exercise. However, there are some simple ways to motivate yourself during exercise. One study showed that those who repeated positive mantras to themselves during exercise were able to persist for longer periods (2).
Why is this so important? Because we are too sedentary, and this is the time of the year when we are especially so. According to data from the 2015-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the Northeast had among the highest levels of physical inactivity in the U.S., at 25.6 percent of the population (3).
Does exercise alter your genes?
While it may not change our genes, exercise may change how our genes express themselves.
One study’s results showed that thousands upon thousands of genes in fat cells were affected when participants exercised for six months (4). During the study, sedentary men exercised twice a week at a one-hour spin class. According to the researchers, this affected genes that are involved in storing fat and in risk for subsequent diabetes and obesity development. The participants also improved other important health metrics, including their cholesterol, blood-pressure, fat percent and, later, their waist circumferences.
The effect identified on the fat cells is referred to as epigenetics, where lifestyle modifications ultimately lead to changes in gene expression, turning them on and off. This has been shown with dietary changes, but this is one of the first studies to show that exercise also has significant impacts on our genes. It took only six months to see these numerous gene changes with modest amounts of cardiovascular exercise.
Want more encouragement? Another study showed considerable gene changes in muscle cells after one workout on a stationary bike (5). Yet another introduced six weeks of endurance exercise to healthy, but sedentary, young men and identified an abundance of genetic changes to skeletal muscle, which has broad impacts on physical and cognitive health (6).
Can you treat cardiovascular disease with exercise?
What if we could forgo medications for cardiovascular disease by exercising? One meta-analysis examined 57 studies that involved drugs and exercise. It showed similar benefits in mortality with secondary prevention of coronary heart disease with statins and exercise (7). So, in patients who already have heart disease, both statins and exercise reduce the risk of mortality by similar amounts. The same study also showed that for those with pre-diabetes, it didn’t matter whether they took metformin or exercised – they had the same effect.
While these results are exciting, don’t change your medication without consulting your physician.
Does exercise help with kidney stones?
Anyone who has tried to pass a kidney stone knows it can be excruciating. Most treatments involve taking pain medication and fluids and just waiting for the stone to pass. Truly, the best way to treat kidney stones is to prevent them.
In the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study, exercise reduced the risk of kidney stones by as much as 31 percent (8). Even better, the intensity of exercise did not change its beneficial effect. What mattered more was exercise quantity. One hour of jogging or three hours of walking got the top results; however, lesser amounts of exercise also saw substantial reductions. This study involved 84,000 postmenopausal women, the population most likely to suffer from kidney stones.
Does sexual activity count as exercise?
We have heard that sex is a form of exercise, but is this a myth or is there actual evidence? According to research, this may be true. In a study, researchers found that young, healthy couples exert 6 METs — metabolic energy, or the amount of oxygen consumed per kilogram per minute — during sexual activity (9).
How does this compare to other activities? We exert about 1 MET while sitting and 8.5 METs while jogging. In terms of energy used, sexual activity can be qualified as moderate activity. Men and women burned almost half as many calories with sex as with jogging, burning a mean of 85 calories over about 25 minutes. Who says exercise can’t be fun?
Movement and exercise not only help you feel better, they may also influence your genes’ expression. In certain circumstances, they may be as powerful as medications in preventing some diseases.
Dr. David Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.
I was delighted to see John Turner’s new column (“Living Lightly”) in the Arts & Lifestyles section, Feb. 15. Mr. Turner is a well-regarded figure in the environmental movement on Long Island, and his contribution to your paper in the form of a column of practical advice for a more Earth-friendly lifestyle is greatly appreciated.
All too often, we fall into a funk of inaction regarding the overwhelming challenges of the environmental crisis. It can seem quite impossible for any one person to effect change when the problems we are facing are so huge. Mr. Turner’s column will hopefully look at, and remind us all, of the simple choices we can make as individuals to move toward a cleaner and healthier planet.
On the theme of a cleaner and healthier planet, I was also very pleased to see your Feb. 15 editorial on the future of the Town of Brookhaven landfill [“Where does Brookhaven’s garbage go from here?”]. I’m astounded that the town makes no significant effort to inform its populace of future plans regarding the landfill. Similarly, the town’s general lack of communication about waste collection is baffling. We could all use a little guidance about how best to sort recyclable plastics and metals, for instance. Helpful hints about reusable plastics and disposal of organic and inorganic waste, provided on a regular basis by mail, email and/or press releases would go a long way toward generating trust and pride among Brookhaven’s residents.
Douglas Baldwin
Sound Beach
Port Jeff school board needs three candidates to assess the future
Good day Port Jefferson School District parents, it is decision time!
Since I left the Board of Education in 2006 the educational quality of our district has been in a freefall (see The Washington Post surveys).
Parents need to put forward three candidates for the board who will look closely at the state of the district and make decisions based on the educational needs of your kids.
You can do this! America is about intelligent people — and Port Jefferson School District has an abundance — stepping forward and bringing their skills to a collective entity, the Board of Education, for the best outcomes for our kids.
The current board seems obsessed with the needs of the lacrosse team. Millions have been proposed to this end — and rejected by residents. Educational opportunities for your kids have been decimated over the years.
Do we want to:
Keep the Port Jefferson schools the way they are?
Merge with the Three Village school district — assuming Three Village is of like mind? (Merge in total or merge at the high school level only.)
Or tuition our kids to the Three Village district – sending only our high school kids to Three Village.
You must gather together for your kids. There are people who will support you for election and as a board member. The future is in your hands if you do not let it slip through your fingers. Talk among yourselves. You have the people who can lead!
Stony Brook University’s Division of Finance & Administration broke the largest single-week record for food donated to the University’s on-campus Food Pantry. The largest amount of food received was previously set at 269 pounds. The Division participated in the ‘Adopt a Week’ program during Valentine’s Day week and was able to collect 700 pounds.
“There are members of our Stony Brook community experiencing real food insecurity,” stated Jed Shivers, Senior Vice President for Finance & Administration. “This isn’t surprising given that just over one in ten New York households experience food insecurity, so we were delighted to partner with the Food Pantry to benefit students, faculty and staff here on campus.”
The Stony Brook University Food Pantry is located in the Stony Brook Union and serves university community members (students, staff and faculty) who are at risk of food insecurity. The Food Pantry looks to be a reliable and stable supplemental food source while providing resources to those in need.
Several members of the Division of Finance & Administration helped organize and conduct the food collection for the Food Pantry including: Karla Morrison, Lauren Candela, Christine O’Neill, Carolyn Osiecki, Joseph Caponegro, Jennifer Coggin, Jhovanna Erazo, Kassidy Berke, Diane Brady, Kristine Kondrick, Heather McLaughlin, Jeanmarie Ricciardi, Veronica Brown and Divisional leaders who lent their support including Lyle Gomes, Heather Montague, Simeon Ananou, Bill Herrmann, Larry Zacarese, and Jen Donnelly.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad Detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man who allegedly stole clothing from a Commack store this month.
A man allegedly stole sweatshirts from Kohl’s, located at 45 Crooked Hill Road, on February 19 at 9:30 p.m. The merchandise was valued at approximately $1,080.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Suffolk County Police arrested a woman on Feb. 28 for alleged prostitution and unauthorized practice of a profession during a massage parlor raid in Coram.
In response to numerous community complaints, Suffolk County Police Sixth Precinct Crime Section officers, in conjunction with the Town of Brookhaven Building Inspector, Town Fire Marshall and Town Investigator, conducted an investigation into an unnamed business, located at 625 Middle Country Road, and arrested Jessica Mesa Ortiz at approximately 3:25 p.m.
Mesa Ortiz, 37, of East Elmhurst, was charged with alleged Unauthorized Practice of a Profession, a felony, and Prostitution, a misdemeanor. She was released on a Desk Appearance Ticket and is scheduled to appear at First District Court in Central Islip at a later date.
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