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Police

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A Sound Beach man was killed on his own street on Saturday, after his pickup truck left the roadway and crashed.

The Suffolk County Police Department said 49-year-old Richard Cambria was driving his 2011 Dodge south on Islip Drive shortly before noon that day. He left the street and hit a telephone pole, then struck a retaining wall.

Cambria was pronounced dead at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson, police said. There were no other cars involved in the crash.

Police impounded the pickup truck for a safety check.

Detectives from the SCPD’s 7th Squad are investigating the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call them at 631-852-8752.

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Alexander Thomas mugshot from SCPD

A hospitalized suspect facing criminal possession and harassment charges allegedly attacked a cop and fled police custody on Friday afternoon, remaining on the lam for an hour before a canine officer found him.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, 1st Precinct officers had used a Taser while arresting suspect Alexander Thomas in North Amityville the previous night on several charges, including criminal possession of a loaded weapon, harassment, resisting arrest and criminal possession of stolen property. Officers brought Thomas, a 25-year-old Huntington resident, to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip for treatment, at which point the suspect complained of chest pains.

At noon on Friday, police said, Thomas assaulted an officer at the hospital and fled on foot, before a Canine Unit officer and his dog found the defendant an hour later. Police added second-degree escape and second-degree assault to the defendant’s charges.

Attorney information for Thomas was not immediately available.

Both the allegedly assaulted officer and Thomas were treated at the hospital for minor injuries after the capture and were released, police said.

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Kevin Kelly mugshot from SCPD

Police arrested a man on Thursday evening who they say had illegal sexual contact with two teenagers several years ago.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, suspect Kevin Kelly met the victims while working as a stage manager for a local theater company. One of the alleged incidents occurred in 2007 and involved sexual contact with a 14-year-old, while the other allegedly occurred with a 15-year-old a year later.

Police arrested Kelly, a Massapequa resident, on Plant Avenue in Hauppauge Thursday, after Special Victims Section detectives investigated the case. He was charged with second-degree criminal sex act and third-degree criminal sex act.

Attorney information for Kelly was not immediately available on Friday afternoon. The defendant was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.

Anyone who may have been a victim of inappropriate sexual contact or has information about the charges against Kelly is asked to call detectives at 631-852-6272.

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Update, Oct. 5, 10:15 a.m.: Police identified the deceased woman found in a Lake Grove home last week as 42-year-old Tricia Odierna.

A woman found dead in Lake Grove on Thursday afternoon was killed, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

The case began when patrol officers responded to a 911 call at 1:50 p.m., entering a house on Win Place, off of Hawkins Avenue. Police said the officers found a dead woman inside.

Authorities had not released the woman’s identity by Friday morning.

According to police, the woman’s death is believed to have a criminal cause.

Detectives from the SCPD’s Homicide Squad are investigating the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call them at 631-852-6392, or to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-220-TIPS.

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A driver was seriously hurt in front of a church on Jericho Turnpike early Thursday morning, in a crash that sent debris flying.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, a woman was driving a 2014 Chevrolet Cruze west on that road in Smithtown shortly before 2 a.m. when she left the street, hit a brick column at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, overturned and hit a nearby tree.

The woman was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries. Police withheld the woman’s name, as her family had not yet been notified.

Jericho Turnpike was closed for several hours as detectives from the 4th Squad investigated the crash, which occurred just west of Terry Road, police said, and as large amounts of debris had to be removed.

Police impounded the Chevrolet for a safety check.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call detectives at 631-854-8452, or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS.

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Bruckenthal retires Saturday, Lt. Bill Ricca to take helm

Northport Village Police Chief Ric Bruckenthal will retire on Saturday. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Northport Village Police Chief Ric Bruckenthal will be retiring on Saturday, Sept. 26, ending a career of nearly four decades of policing the village’s streets.

Lieutenant Bill Ricca will be taking over at the helm. The lieutenant said he is looking forward to continuing the chief’s work.

“He’s done such a great job here; he’s made this a model department,” Ricca said in a recent sit-down interview. “[There will] be very few changes when I take over.”

Bruckenthal, 62, has spent 37 of his 39 years in law enforcement at Northport Village Police Department. He has been chief for the last 15 years, after working his way up the ladder. He began his career as an officer and rose to sergeant and then lieutenant. He resides in Northport with his wife Patricia, and they had four kids, Noa Beth, Nathan, Matthew and Michael. Nathan was killed in action in Iraq as a coastguardsman in 2004.

Bruckenthal grew up in Queens. He graduated from Queens College and then attended John Jay College, where he received his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and police science. From there, he took the first police job he was offered, in Asharoken Village.

“It was very quiet, and in the winter it was dead,” the chief said. “I wanted a little more activity. So in 1978, I had the opportunity to come here. Northport then was a lot different than it is today.”

He said that downtown Northport used to have a “tremendous” number of bars. Bruckenthal said with a laugh that there were quite a number of bar fights back then, but that has changed due to a big decrease in the number of bars in the village now. While he doesn’t know why the dynamic of Northport has changed, he thinks it has to do with more and more people realizing that Northport is a unique spot.

“That has changed the environment here,” he said.

Bruckenthal said being involved with the community is the best way to run a successful police department.

“I really believe interacting with people, just talking with people and getting out of the police car, is the best police work you can do. It’s a small department, so I try to encourage the officers to tell me what they are interested in, so maybe we can do something with their interests that’s going to help the department and the community.”

For example, one officer under Bruckenthal’s command is a former Eagle Scout, so he attends all the Eagle Scout presentations. Other officers interact with the schools in Northport, because they have children that are in all the different schools within the district. He thinks this management strategy helps connect cops to their community.

Bruckenthal has enjoyed working with the administration at Northport Village Hall and said “they really do have the community and the village in their best interests.”

Henry Tobin, deputy mayor of Northport Village, said that Bruckenthal would be deeply missed.

“One reason Ric has been loved by the village and supported so strongly through tough times is because the people know he has no personal agenda,” Tobin said in a phone interview. “He is motivated by what is best for the village.”

Tobin acknowledges that the village is fortunate, however, to be gaining a chief in Ricca.

“He is a deeply felt member of the community. He is dedicated to public service, fairness and empathy,” he said.

In terms of improvements he’s made to the department, Bruckenthal touted a number.

“I think we’ve better trained our people in first aid, CPR, and AEDs (automatic external defibrillators),” Bruckenthal said. “That was always something I thought was very important. I was the first EMT in the department. We handle a significant amount of aided cases. If you can help the person more than just saying, ‘hurry up with the ambulance,’ I always thought that was important.”

Bruckenthal and Ricca have both personally made several saves using CPR, which they consider highlights of their careers.

Ricca, 49, has been a part of the department for 24 years. He and his wife Dawn have five kids: Joe, Nicole, Dominic, Angelina and Steven. Ricca worked as a police officer in New York City with the K-9 Unit, with canine partners Sparky and Sherlock. Sparky was a German Shepherd and Sherlock was a bloodhound.

“The dogs and you are a team,” Ricca said. “Your dogs come home with you. It was probably the most fun I’ve had being a cop.”

In 1991, he came out to Northport as a police officer, and quickly became the firearms instructor for the department. He has taken on more responsibilities since then as the department trainer.

“In a small department like this, when an opportunity comes around here to do something specialized, you’re excited to grab it,” Ricca said. “Under Chief Bruckenthal, he’s been very aggressive in sending guys out to do training.”

Ricca has been taking over Bruckenthal’s duties and day-to-day activities for a few weeks now, and once he officially becomes chief on Sept. 27, he will fully take over administrative duties at the department. He doesn’t think the Northport Village Board will replace him with a new lieutenant immediately after he is promoted.

When asked why he was first interested in becoming the new chief, Ricca said, “I was always an ambitious person. I never sat down and said ‘good enough.’ I think I make a good leader.”

Ricca thoroughly enjoys working in Northport.

“I love to be a cop where I live,” he said. “I walk downtown almost daily and stick my head into the stores, say hello to the store owners, say hello to the shoppers. It makes my day, it’s my favorite part of working with the police department in Northport.”

Ricca hopes to build an even stronger bond with the community as chief, with potential events like coffee with a cop.

“We can’t do this job ourselves. We can answer calls and catch bad guys, but we need their support. We do public service 90 percent of the time. And we don’t want the people to be afraid to call us.”

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Wined and wanted

Suffolk County police and Crime Stoppers are offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information about a man who stole a bottle of alcohol from Hamlet Wines & Liquors in Setauket. Police said the man stole a nearly $1,700 bottle of Chateau Petrus wine on Sept. 12 around 5:35 p.m. Cops said the man took the bottle of wine and hid it in his pants before he fled the store on foot. The police seek the public’s help to identify and locate the man. If you have any information regarding the theft,call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. To see the video of the incident, visit www.youtube.com/scpdtv.

A gem of a thief

A 20-year-old man from Port Jefferson Station was arrested at his home on Concord Circle for grand larceny. Police arrested the man on Sept. 20 at 11:00 a.m. and said the man stole more than $50,000 in jewelry and cash on the evening of Aug. 15.

Out of line

Police pulled over a 20-year-old man from Stony Brook and charged him with driving while ability impaired. Cops said the man was under the influence of drugs while he drove a 1989 Ford southbound on Route 112 in Port Jefferson. Police arrested him at the scene on Sept. 18 around 1:20 a.m. after he failed to maintain his lane.

Late library stroll

On Sept. 18, at 11:15 p.m., police arrested a 26-year-old man from Port Jefferson Station and charged him with burglary. Police said on June 24 at 5:25 p.m., the man entered a staff-only room in Comsewogue Public Library in Port Jefferson Station and stole a laptop.

Risky Rav4 ride

A 24-year-old girl from Miller Place was arrested at her home on Sept. 19 at 9:15 a.m. and charged her with operating a vehicle without permission. Police said the woman was operating a 2015 Rav4 without permission. Police didn’t disclose who the car belonged to.

A healthy heist

Around 9:10 a.m. on Sept. 19, at the 6th Precinct, police arrested a 43-year-old man from Lake Ronkonkoma and charged him with petit larceny. Cops said the man stole vitamins and dietary supplements from the CVS on Horseblock Road in Farmingville on July 5 at 12:30 p.m.

Gone with the grill

On Sept. 20, around 3:50 p.m., police arrested a 48-year-old man from Holtsville and charged him with petit larceny. The man was arrested at the 6th Precinct, for stealing a gas grill on June 14 around 1:00 a.m. from the Kmart on North Ocean Road in Farmingville.

Gimme some gas

Police charged a 28-year-old man from Centereach for driving while ability impaired on Sept. 17 at 1:20 a.m. Officers initially stopped the man for speeding down Nicolls Road in Stony Brook in a 2008 Nissan and discovered he was intoxicated.

DWAI disaster

A 48-year-old woman from Rocky Point was arrested and charged with driving while ability impaired. Police said on Sept. 18, the woman was driving under the influence of drugs when she got into a car crash with her 2014 Chevy Camaro on Route 25A in Port Jefferson. Police arrested the woman at around 10:08 p.m. at the scene.

Breaking and not entering

Police said between 2:00 and 9:15 a.m. on Sept. 17, an unknown person broke into the front driver’s side of a 2004 Honda Accord. The incident happened on Chestnut Street in Mount Sinai. Police said nothing was stolen from the car.

Handy house visit

Police said an unidentified person entered a residence on Radio Avenue in Miller Place through the backyard and stole a Bosch demolition hammer sometime between Sept. 18 at 5:30 p.m. and Sept. 19 at 9:30 a.m.

Cash register raider

On Sept. 20, around 8:48 p.m., an unknown person entered the Carvel on Route 25A in Port Jefferson and reached over the cashier counter before taking money from the cash register. Police didn’t disclose the amount of money that was stolen.

A serious workout

Police said an assault took place outside the Planet Fitness on Route 25A in Rocky Point. On Sept. 18, around 12:47 a.m., a man told police he was punched and kicked several times by another man before the complainant fled the scene. Police said the complainant was taken to John T. Mather Memorial Hospital to have his injuries tended to.

Partners in crime

Suffolk County police said a man and a woman stole cosmetics and clothes from the Walmart on Nesconset Highway in Setauket on Sept. 19 at 1:30 p.m.

Shattered glass

Between Sept. 16 at 10:00 a.m. and Sept. 17 at 7:00 a.m., an unknown person broke the glass door of How How Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant on Nesconset Highway in Setauket. According to police, nothing was stolen.

Lexus lost change

On Sept. 19 at 12:48 a.m. on Cheryl Drive in East Shoreham, a man reported that an unidentified person entered his 2015 Lexus and stole cash from the car. Police didn’t say if the individual broke into the car or if the car was unlocked.

A daring steal

Police said on Sept. 16 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. an unknown person broke into a 2001 Ford and stole a driver’s license and Social Security card. The incident took place on Dare Road in Selden.

Walgreens wake-up

Around 1:00 a.m. on Sept. 20, an unidentified person stole cosmetics and razors from the Walgreens on Middle Country Road in Selden. The individual fled the store in a dark blue van.

A rocky night

On Sept. 19 around 7:05 p.m., someone threw a rock at a 2015 BMW near Route 347 in Stony Brook. Police said the rear passenger door was damaged.

Listening to the blues

A 35-year-old man from Bayshore was arrested for third degree criminal mischief on Sept. 20. He stole an Eclipse Pro 180 mp3 video player from Walmart in Smithtown according to police around 2 p.m. and was arrested at the store.

Not Ksmart at Kmart

On Sept. 18 a 40-year-old woman from Wyandanch and a 27-year-old woman from Medford stole assorted clothing from a Kmart in Commack according to police at 6:30 p.m. They were arrested on site and charged for petit larceny.

Sleepy in a Mitsubishi

A 24-year-old man from Nesconset was found passed out behind the wheel on Smithtown Blvd. at 1:10 a.m. on Sept. 16. He was inside a 2011 Mitsubishi and was transported to the 4th Precinct. He was charged with driving while ability impaired.

Pot bust

On Sept. 16 a 29-year-old woman from Selden was arrested for fifth degree criminal possession of marijuana. In the rear parking lot of 7-Eleven in Nesconset at 5:45 p.m., she was found in a 2007 Lincoln with marijuana and was arrested at the scene.

Why have one drug when you can have two drugs?

A 22-year-old man from Brentwood was arrested on Sept. 18 at the 2nd Precinct. He was found on the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Commack Road at 1:25 p.m. with marijuana and cocaine in his possession. He was charged with criminal possession of marijuana and third degree criminal possession of a narcotic drug.

Sandman take the wheel

Police arrested a 19-year-old woman from Commack on Sept. 17 after they observed her sleeping behind the wheel of a 2013 Honda Civic when her vehicle rolled forward into an unmarked unit car at 5:45 a.m. She was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Wild times on Wildwood Lane

A man reported that another man punched him in the face on Wildwood Lane in Smithtown at 9:45 p.m. on Sept. 19.

U-turn turns U-crazy

While making a U-turn on Sept. 19 due to construction, the driver was approached by a man who started yelling and calling him names, and then stuck his hand inside the car and threatened to punch the driver at Bowers Court in Smithtown at 2:40 p.m.

Raise the roof

Suffolk County police said a 41-year-old man and a 16-year-old man, both from Huntington, were arrested on Sept. 19 at 3:30 p.m. for opening the protective safety cover to the roof and gaining access at Walt Whitman mall in Huntington. They were both charged with third-degree criminal trespassing in an enclosed property.

Schoolyard blues

On Sept. 18, a 17-year-old man from East Northport was arrested at the 2nd Precinct and charged with petit larceny. Police said on Sept. 16 at 12:45 p.m., he stole cash out of someone’s purse at Northport High School.

Rocky car ride

A man told police that on Sept. 18 at 11:10 a.m. while making a right turn on Broadway in Huntington, he began to yell at a passerby on the street. The passerby then threw a rock at the man’s car and shattered the vehicle’s rear break light.

Bed theft and beyond

A 43-year-old woman from St. James was arrested at the 2nd Precinct on Sept. 18 for fourth-degree grand larceny. Police said on Aug. 16 at 3:30 p.m., she took a Bank of America credit card from someone’s purse at Bocu Salon in Commack and then used it to buy items at a Bed Bath and Beyond in Lake Grove.

Burglary and a buzz

A resident on Makamah Beach Road in Northport told police that someone broke into his or her house at 8 p.m. on Sept. 16 and stole a sound system, two PlayStation devices, four remotes and many bottles of wine and beer.

Can’t af-Ford anymore problems

A 47-year-old man from Huntington was arrested on Sept. 18 at 6:01 p.m. on Oakwood Road in Huntington Station and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08. He was stopped after police said witnesses said they saw him using a non-hands-free mobile device while driving a 1997 Ford. When police stopped him, they also found that he was driving without an interlock device in the car that he was required to be driving with due to previous DWI arrests. They also discovered he was driving while under the influence.

Ring the alarm

On Sept. 17, a 17-year-old woman from Huntington Station was arrested and charged with first-degree falsely reporting an incident after police said she pulled the fire alarm at Walt Whitman High School at 11 a.m.

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Expensive tastes
On Sept. 11, Suffolk County police arrested a 25-year-old woman from Bellport and charged her with petit larceny. Cops said on May 19 she stole six Prada and seven Versace sunglasses from Macy’s in Smith Haven Mall in Smithtown. On April 10 they said she stole various items from Victoria’s Secret in the mall. She was arrested at the 3rd Precinct at 3 p.m.

Charging through
Cops arrested a 34-year-old man from Commack on Sept. 9 for intentionally driving a 2013 Toyota Corolla into a framed metal outdoor canopy at 60 Veterans Highway in Commack on Aug. 26 at 4:45 a.m. He was arrested at the 4th precinct at 9:10 a.m. and charged with third-degree criminal mischief for property damage valuing less than $250.

Sunglasses saboteur sacked
Police arrested a 30-year-old woman from East Patchogue on Sept. 9 at the 4th Precinct at around 8 p.m. and charged her with third-degree grand larceny for previous incidents. On June 11 at 5:45 p.m. cops said she stole six pairs of Prada, three pairs of Bulgari and one pair of Tiffany sunglasses from Macy’s in Smith Haven Mall. On May 19 at 8:11 p.m., she stole six Prada and seven Versace pairs of sunglasses at Macy’s.

Unlicensed driving
A 55-year-old man from East Farmingdale was arrested on Sept. 9 and charged with grand larceny in the third degree. Cops said he was driving a Ford F-150 on Smithtown Boulevard in Nesconset at 6:30 p.m. with a revoked or suspended license. He also stole a 2003 Keystone trailer at 6:30 p.m. on July 26.

I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby
On Sept. 12 a pair of Commack teens were arrested and charged with petit larceny. Cops said a 17-year-old man and a 16-year-old woman were arrested at 4:05 p.m. for stealing assorted merchandise from a Walmart in Commack.

Card thief caught
Cops arrested a 50-year-old Central Islip woman on Sept. 13 and charged her with petit larceny for using someone else’s debit card to withdraw money on multiple occasions. Police said the first incident was on July 15 at 1:50 p.m. and the second was on July 20 at 1:48 p.m. She was arrested at 11:05 p.m. at the 4th Precinct.

Bling begone
Two residents from Terri Drive in Smithtown reported a stolen engagement ring and band from their home between 1:30 and 2 p.m. on Sept. 11.

Home ransacked
An unknown person entered a home on Maplelawn Drive in Smithtown and stole assorted items including computers, necklaces, rings, perfumes and colognes between 3 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Sept. 11.

Uphill battle
Police pulled over a 59-year-old Setauket man who was speeding down Route 25A near The Hills Drive in a 2006 Ford on Sept. 13 to find he was intoxicated. He was arrested for driving while ability impaired. It was the man’s first offense.

No toking for you
A 19-year-old man from Miller Place was arrested on Sept. 10 for selling tobacco to a minor. Police said the incident happened on Route 25A in Port Jefferson Station.

Diamond in the rough
On Sept. 13 police arrested a 29-year-old man from Port Jefferson Station for criminal contempt. Police said the man went into the Kohl’s in East Setauket and stole jewelry.

Welcome home
Around 5:45 a.m. on Sept. 12, a 27-year-old man from Brookhaven in a 2002 Ford drove into a house on Michael Court in Centereach. The man was driving while ability impaired and police arrested him at the scene of the crash.

Hit-and-run times two
Police said a 19-year-old female from Farmingdale was arrested for leaving the scene of a Sept. 12 car crash, after the woman was driving along Portion Road in Ronkonkoma and hit two vehicles before fleeing the scene. Police arrested her soon afterward on Route 25A in Selden.

No paz here
A 36-year-old Pennsylvania man was arrested on Main Street in Port Jefferson on Sept. 11 around 4:54 a.m. for criminal mischief, after police said the man broke a window at La Paz restaurant. Police said the defendant is the same man who was found in possession of cocaine and threatened a group of people with a razor blade the day before, but a police spokesperson was unsure if he was arrested that day for criminal possession of a controlled substance and menacing, as it was not documented.

Electrical enthusiast
On Sept. 10, police arrested a 35-year-old man and a 26-year-old man from East Patchogue. They were each charged with petit larceny — the older man after stealing electrical switches and wall plates from the Lowe’s Home Improvement store on Nesconset Highway in Stony Brook, and the younger man when he tried to return the stolen merchandise to the store.

Petrus pants
Police said an unidentified man took a bottle of Petrus Bordeaux wine from Hamlet Wines & Liquors store in East Setauket on Sept. 12, putting the bottle down his pants and fleeing the store on foot.

Unique break
Police said an unknown person broke the front window of Unique Cleaners in Miller Place on Sept. 10 at 4:31 a.m. Nothing was stolen from the store.

Denny’s disappearance
Around 1 a.m. on Sept. 12 a woman reported that she had lost her handbag at the Denny’s in Centereach Mall. The handbag contained jewelry and money.

Disturber of the peace
On Sept. 10 around 4:45 a.m., a man reported that an unknown person had stolen money from his 2013 Toyota, located on Peace Court in Selden.

Giving and taking
Between Sept. 10 at 5 p.m. and Sept. 11 at 8:30 a.m., an unknown person broke into a clothing donation bin and stole clothes. Police said the door of the bin, in a parking lot near Nesconset Highway in Port Jefferson Station, was broken.

Vehicle violation
A woman reported that a rear window on a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban was vandalized on Sept. 13 around 2 a.m. on Maple Road in Rocky Point.

Making a dry clean getaway
Police said an unknown person broke into a dry cleaner on North Country Road in Mount Sinai. The person threw a rock on Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. and broke the front window of the business and stole cash.

Phony caller
An unidentified person on Hearthside Drive in Mount Sinai received a phone call from a scammer on Sept. 8. The person who called the victim wanted money but it was unclear what for.

Roll credits
On Sept. 12 a man and a woman reported that a pocketbook, which contained a Social Security card, was taken from a 2009 Dodge Charger. Clothes were also stolen from the car. Police said the car was parked in the AMC Loews movie theater parking lot on Nesconset Highway in Stony Brook.

One man plus one man equals oh man
Two 22-year-old men were arrested in front of the Paramount in Huntington on Sept.11 for engaging in a fistfight on a public sidewalk, within ten minutes of each other. One man, from Huntington Station, resisted arrest when he was commanded by officers to stop fighting and then refused to place his hands behind his back. He was also found to have marijuana in his possession. He was charged with disorderly conduct, fighting and violent behavior at 11:20 p.m. The other man, from Mastic Beach, punched and wrestled with officers and fled the scene on foot for a short time until police caught up to him. He was arrested at 11:29 p.m. and charged with disorderly conduct, fighting, engaging in violent behavior, and intent to cause physical injury to a police officer.

Slice, slice baby
Police arrested a homeless man on Sept. 12 at 156 Depot Road in Huntington Station for attacking a man with a knife. The man suffered lacerations on his neck and required medical attention at 5:05 p.m., and the attacker was arrested a short time later. The man was charged for assault with intent to cause physical injury with a weapon.

Don’t take me out to the ball game
A 21-year-old man from Huntington Station was arrested on Sept. 11 for an incident police said occurred earlier. On Sept. 6 at 4:10 a.m. on Broadway and Biltmore Circle in Huntington Station cops said he struck a man multiple times with a baseball bat and the victim was taken to Huntington Hospital. He also slashed a second man with a knife. The assailant was charged with assault with intent to cause physical injury with a weapon.

Drive-through
At 7:40 p.m. on Sept. 11, a 26-year-old woman from Huntington Station was arrested for causing damage with her vehicle. She was driving a 2006 Nissan Altima on New York Avenue in Huntington when she struck a parked 2002 Lexus that was unattended. She failed to stop afterwards and was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and property damage.

Someone’s not on Nationwide’s side
At Nationwide Insurance on High Street in Huntington on Sept. 10, an unknown person entered the location at 4:00 p.m. and stole two payroll checks.

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A pedestrian is in critical condition after a car struck him in the middle of the day in Coram and then fled the scene.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, the victim, 57-year-old Gary Williams, was walking on the shoulder of Mill Road’s northbound side at 11 a.m. Wednesday when the sedan, which was heading north, hit him.

Detectives are searching for a newer model of a dark-colored, four-door sedan, with damage to both the windshield and the passenger side view mirror, police said.

Williams, a Coram resident, was in critical condition at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Vehicular Crime Unit detectives are investigating the hit-and-run. Anyone with information is asked to call them at 631-852-6555 or to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-220-TIPS.

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North Shore natives travel to Washington with hopes of swaying lawmakers to renew health care benefits

John Feal speaks at the September 11 memorial ceremony in Commack last week. Photo by Brenda Lentsch

The 9/11 first responders who have fought for years to get health care support are heading back to Washington, D.C., in hopes of ushering in the renewal of the James L. Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act. And for one Nesconset resident, change cannot come soon enough.

Parts of the bill will expire next month, and other parts in October 2016.

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act would extend the programs of the original Zadroga act indefinitely. It was introduced to Congress in April and currently has 150 bipartisan co-sponsors.

“When this bill expires, our illnesses do not expire,” said John Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation, in a phone interview. Feal, of Nesconset, has been walking the halls of Congress for the past eight years to help get this bill passed.

He is also a 9/11 first responder who worked on the reconstruction at Ground Zero, and lost half of his foot in the process. He suffered from gangrene, but he says his injuries “pale in comparison to other first responders.”

President Barack Obama signed the current Zadroga act into law in 2011 and established the World Trade Center Health Program, which will expire in October if not renewed.

The WTC program ensured that those whose health was affected by 9/11 would receive monitoring and treatment services for their health-related problems. It consists of a responder program for rescue and recovery workers and New York City firefighters, and a survivor program for those who lived, worked or went to school in lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001.

The Zadroga act also reopened the September 11th Victims Compensation Act, which allows for anyone affected to file claims for economic losses due to physical harm or death caused by 9/11. That will expire in October of next year.

Feal said he was asked by television personality Jon Stewart to come on “The Daily Show” in December 2010, but the Nesconset native said he did not want to leave the real legislative fight in D.C. Instead, he helped get four 9/11 responders to the Dec. 16, 2010, episode, who helped shed light on the ongoing battle these responders were dealing with in Congress.

“He was definitely one of the reasons the bill got passed,” Feal said of Stewart. Stewart accompanied Feal and many other first responders when they traveled to Washington, D.C, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and took part in a mini rally.

The bill did not pass the first time it was presented to Congress back in 2006. A new version was drafted in 2010 and passed in the House of Representatives, but was having trouble getting through the Senate due to a Republican filibuster. The bill received final congressional approval on Dec. 22, 2010, and was enacted by the president on Jan. 2, 2011.

“As we get older these illnesses will become debilitating,” Feal said. “Not extending this bill is criminal. People will die without it. It’s a life-saving piece of legislation.”

Jennifer McNamara, a Blue Point resident and president of The Johnny Mac Foundation, is also actively involved in the fight to keep responders health costs covered. Her late husband, John McNamara, passed away in 2009 from stage IV colon cancer.

He was a New York City Firefighter and worked more than 500 hours at the World Trade Center in the aftermath of 9/11. He worked with responders to get support for the Zadroga bill before he died.

“I made him a promise to continue to lend support to get this legislation passed,” Jennifer McNamara said in a phone interview. When her husband passed away, she said there weren’t as many responders getting sick as there are now. “People are dying more quickly, and more are getting diagnosed with cancers and other illnesses.”

The two big issues that McNamara said she feels need to continue to be addressed are monitoring these diseases and coverage of costs once someone is diagnosed. McNamara said she believes that if there were better monitoring programs earlier on, her husband could’ve been diagnosed before his cancer was stage IV, and he could’ve had a better chance.

“These people did tremendous things for their country,” McNamara said. “They shouldn’t have to guess about whether they are going to be taken care of.”

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