Suffolk County Police Major Case Unit detectives are investigating a robbery that occurred at a Commack bank the afternoon of Dec. 12.
A man entered Chase bank, located at 39 Vanderbilt Parkway, at 12:59 p.m. and allegedly handed a teller a note demanding cash. The teller complied with the suspect’s demands and gave him cash from the drawer. The robber fled in an unknown direction.
The robber is described as an adult male, approximately 6 feet tall with a medium build. He was wearing a dark-colored jacket and hat and a blue face mask.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on the robbery to call the Major Case Unit at 631-852-6555 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential.
Update: Raymond Rondinone has been found unharmed.
Suffolk County Police have issued a Silver Alert for a missing Fort Salonga man who suffers from dementia.
Raymond Rondinone, 91, was last seen leaving his home, located at 20 Breeze Hill Road at approximately 4 p.m. Rondinone was driving a 2020 white Toyota Camry with NY license plate Prisoner of War (POW) plate 106. Rondinone is white, 6 feet tall, 165 pounds, with grey hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a navy blue jacket, a red and white plaid shirt, and brown pants.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on Rondinone’s location to call 911 or the Second Precinct at 631-854-8299.
As a reminder, Silver Alert is a program implemented in Suffolk County that allows local law enforcement to share information with media outlets about individuals with special needs who have been reported missing.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Suffolk police commissioner Rodney Harrison. File photo
At a press conference Dec. 14 in Hauppauge, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) named Rodney Harrison as his nominee for county police commissioner. Harrison is the outgoing New York Police Department chief of department.
According to the Suffolk County Police Department, Harrison is a 30-year veteran of the NYPD. His appointment will go before the county Legislature Dec. 21.
Stuart Cameron has served as acting commissioner since former police commissioner, Geraldine Hart, stepped down in May.
Suffolk County police arrested a Centereach man after his wife’s body was found in Middle Island Thursday.
On Dec. 9, Suffolk County Police Department Homicide Squad detectives arrested Marcello Molinari after police found the body of his wife Melissa Molinari, 38, in the Rocky Point Pine Barrens State Forest off Currans Road in Middle Island.
Marcello, 43, was charged with second-degree murder. His wife’s body was transported to the Suffolk County medical examiner where an autopsy will be conducted.
The mother of four children was last seen at their residence on Nov. 21 and was reported missing Dec. 2 after leaving her vehicle at home.
Suffolk County police said during a press conference Friday, Dec. 10, that they were able to use K-9 units and GPS from the husband’s cellphone to place him near the forest where the body was discovered.
Hyatt Regency Long Island. Photo from Hyatt website
Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are investigating the death of a Hauppauge hotel employee who died after falling from a window at the hotel Dec. 4.
David Lerner, an employee of the Hyatt Regency Long Island, located at 1717 Motor Parkway, was at work when he fell from an upper floor window to the ground at approximately 7:30 p.m., according to SCPD.
Lerner, 41, of Holbrook, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on the incident to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392.
Setauket Fire Department Assistant Chief Charles Regulinski, middle, and Chief Scott Gressin, right, present badge 729 to the Three Village Historical Society President Steve Healy. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Members of the Setauket Fire Department stopped by the Three Village Historical Society’s History Center on North Country Road Nov. 6 for a special presentation.
Setauket Fire Department Assistant Chief Charles Regulinski, second from left, and Chief Scott Gressin, third from right, present badge 729 to the Three Village Historical Society as the society’s president Steve Healy, left, Councilman Jonathan Kornreich, second from left, and state Assemblyman Steve Englebright look on. Photo by Rita J. Egan
The department dedicated badge number 729. The number is associated with the Culper Spy Ring, and the badge is now mounted on a plaque and displayed in the center. The number was assigned by Benjamin Tallmadge, the organizer and leader of the local Revolutionary War spies, to signify Setauket in coded messages.
Historical society board members as well as state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) and Town of Brookhaven Councilman Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) were also on hand.
Englebright said the awareness of the spy ring, which he called “part of our American fabric,” is growing thanks to the historical society, and he thanked the fire department for helping to spread the word about the Setauket spies for future generations.
Kornreich said the history “is very much alive in our everyday lives,” given examples of local residents who can trace their roots back to Revolutionary times, including the Strongs who can trace their family history back to Anna Strong, a member of the ring.
“That history still lives within the blood of our community,” Kornreich said. “I think that what we’re all here today to recognize is something deeper and much less obvious, which is a spirit and a tradition that exists in Setauket of people who when the time came and the call came stepped up to answer and face danger.”
He added just as the spies faced danger, so do the firefighters who “rush into the flames to make sure we get out.”
Fire Chief Scott Gressin thanked Assistant Chief Charles Regulinski for helping to see the project through. Regulinski read part of the message on the plaque for those in attendance. A replica of the plaque will also hang within the fire department. After a minimum of a year of probation and service, members receive a badge.
Gressin said when he joined the department in 2002, he became aware of the connection between the “729” symbol, which appears on a few of the Setauket Fire Department trucks based out of the department’s headquarters and the spy ring.
“As we moved forward and realized we were going to approach badge 729, we recognized the symbolic connection,” he said. “That number sat on our trucks, and one of our past chiefs had the forethought to set aside that number and not issue it to a member but to reserve it for a ceremony such as this.”
The event kicked off the historical society’s reopening for its museum after being closed to the public due to COVID-19. The Three Village Historical Society will be open for exhibits:
Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives are investigating the death of a construction worker who died from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning while at a residential job site this afternoon in Fort Salonga.
Victor Irizarry, an employee of Suffolk Excavating, was working for approximately 15 minutes to remove silt from the bottom of a drainage pipe approximately 10 feet into the ground at 92 Fort Salonga Road when he stopped responding to co-workers at approximately 2:35 p.m. A co-worker attempted to go down the pipe to rescue Irizarry, but felt burning in his nose and throat, forcing him to exit the pipe.
The Kings Park Fire Department responded to the location and found carbon monoxide levels to be dangerously high. Firefighters were able to pull Irizarry from the pipe.
Irizarry, 30, of Flanders, was transported to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown where he was pronounced dead. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was notified and is investigating.
Yanira Argueta, of St. James, has been reported missing. Photo from Suffolk County Police Department
Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to locate a St. James teen who was reported missing.
Yanira Argueta was last seen on Oct. 19 at work at O Sole Mio, located at 2194 Nesconset Highway in Stony Brook. Relatives of Argueta reported her missing on Oct. 21.
Argueta, 17, is Hispanic, 5 feet 3 inches tall, 150 pounds with green eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing black pants, a black shirt and black sneakers. Argueta speaks fluent Spanish and understands limited English.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on Argueta’s location to call 911 or the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452.
Suffolk County Police, with assistance from Stony Brook State University Police, arrested a Stony Brook University student on more than a dozen drug charges following an extensive narcotics investigation.
Members of the Stony Brook University Police Department contacted Suffolk County Police Narcotics Section detectives last month regarding a student possibly selling drugs on campus.
Suffolk police said that following a joint investigation, it was determined Domingo Zaba, 41, who lived on campus, was allegedly selling drugs through social media. Detectives arrested Zaba on October 28 and then executed a search warrant at Zaba’s dorm room. Investigators seized drugs including fentanyl, cocaine, mushrooms, Xanax, ketamine and marijuana.
Zaba was charged with 15 felonies—three counts each of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance 2nd Degree, Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance 3rdDegree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 5th Degree and one count each of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 2nd Degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 4th Degree and Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance 5thDegree. He was also charged with three counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th Degree, a misdemeanor.
Zaba is scheduled to be arraigned today at First District Court in Central Islip.
A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
On Friday, Oct. 22, the Sound Beach Fire Department welcomed the community for a Fire Prevention Open House for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the open house, members of the community were given tours of the vehicles and equipment, got to use a real fire hose, and sat for a viewing of “Surviving the Fire,” a fire safety video produced by the SBFD that tells the story of a local family who barely escaped their house fire in 2015.
The open house concluded with a live burn demo to demonstrate the importance of keeping your door shut when you sleep to keep the smoke and fire out.
On Dec. 9, Suffolk County Police Department Homicide Squad detectives arrested Marcello Molinari after police found the body of his wife Melissa Molinari, 38, in the Rocky Point Pine Barrens State Forest off Currans Road in Middle Island.
Prev
