(Long Island, NY) Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Second Squad detectives are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying and locating the man who attempted to use a stolen credit card at a pharmacy in Huntington in July.

Suffolk County Police are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the man who attempted to use a stolen credit card at a pharmacy in Huntington in July. Photo Credit: SCPD.

A man attempted to use a stolen credit card at Rite Aid, located at 391 West Main St., on July 14 at approximately 9:30 p.m. The credit card was in a 2010 Toyota Corolla that was stolen from in front of a home located on High Street in Huntington on July 14 at 9 p.m.

A man attempted to use a stolen credit card at Rite Aid on July 14. Photo Credit: SCPD.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

(Long Island, NY) Suffolk County Police arrested a Brentwood man for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle following a three-vehicle crash that injured two police officers and seriously injured a man and a woman in Hauppauge on Tuesday, September 1.

Orvin Antonio Gabriel was driving a 2001 Toyota Corolla westbound on Route 347 when his vehicle struck the rear of an unoccupied police vehicle at approximately 8:40 p.m. The police vehicle then struck two police officers and the two occupants of a 2013 Hyundai Sonata who had been stopped by the officers a short time before the crash.

Suffolk County Police arrested Orvin Antonio Gabriel, 24, of Brentwood following a three-vehicle crash that injured two police officers and seriously injured a man and a woman on Tuesday, September 1. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle.

Samantha Koppen, 25, of Levittown and Chad Jackowski, 37, of Farmingdale, were transported via Suffolk County Police helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital where they are listed in serious condition with multiple internal injuries. Koppen was initially stopped by police for a vehicle and traffic infraction. Drug paraphernalia and a quantity of heroin were recovered during the traffic stop.

Fourth Precinct Police Officers John Kurklen and Adam Tuthill were transported to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown where they were treated and released.

Gabriel, 24, was charged with Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle and Operation of Vehicles when Approaching a Parked, Stopped or a Standing Authorized Emergency Vehicle or Hazard Vehicle. He is being held at the Fourth Precinct and is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on September 2.

All three vehicles were impounded for safety checks and the investigation is continuing. Detectives are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash to contact the Vehicular Crime Unit at 631-852-6555.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

(Long Island, NY) Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the two women who stole alcohol from a Ronkonkoma gas station last month.

Suffolk County Police are seeking the public’s help to identify the two women who stole alcohol from a Ronkonkoma gas station last month. Photo Credit: SCPD.

Two women entered Gulf, located at 4560 Express Drive South, and stole two cases of beer on August 28 at approximately 12:30 a.m.

Two women entered Gulf and stole two cases of beer on August 28. Photo Credit: SCPD.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

Cooper Union Agrees to Board Restructuring, Financial Monitoring, and Transparency Measures; New Committee Will Develop Plan Aimed At Returning School To Its Traditional Free-Tuition Policy; Court Still Must Approve The Plan

(Long Island, NY) Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, the Committee to Save Cooper Union (“CSCU”), and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (“Cooper Union”) today announced a settlement agreement that will resolve the Attorney General’s investigation into Cooper Union’s financial troubles and end the litigation filed by CSCU seeking to reinstate the school’s historic free-tuition policy.

The agreement follows a year-long investigation by the Attorney General’s office and calls for reforms and monitoring of Cooper Union’s oversight and management, while also establishing a committee aimed at returning Cooper Union to its traditional free-tuition policy.  The Attorney General, joined by Cooper Union and CSCU, today filed a motion in New York State Supreme Court seeking approval of the plan from Justice Nancy Bannon, who is assigned to the CSCU lawsuit.

“Today we are uniting to preserve Cooper Union as a national treasure,” *Attorney General Scheiderman said. “*My office will ensure all sides work together to put Cooper Union back on a path to fiscal sustainability and, hopefully, to one day return the school to its tradition of free tuition. It is my responsibility to promote and protect New York’s nonprofit sector and to help cherished New York institutions like Cooper Union which encounter financial, governance, and operational issues to address them. The school and its dedicated community should be commended for taking these important steps forward.”

“Thanks to the tireless dedication of an extensive network of alumni, faculty, students and supporters, the Committee to Save Cooper Union was able to mount a highly effective legal battle to protect the mission of The Cooper Union,” *said Adrian Jovanovic, President and Co-Founder of the Committee to Save Cooper Union (CSCU)*. “This settlement implements significant reforms and creates a path to restoring Peter Cooper’s vision of education ‘open and free to all.’ We would like to thank Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and his staff for their critical role in investigating the fiscal mismanagement of previous presidents and board members that the CSCU lawsuit illuminated, and for helping all parties reach this milestone. It’s a major step forward, but we will need the continued help of our supporters and others who believe in Peter Cooper’s vision to see this through.”

“Peter Cooper built a completely free, merit-based learning institution that produced some of our nation’s greatest minds, but in recent years, those values were abandoned in favor of financial manipulation and debt.  Because of the litigation settled today, Peter Cooper’s spirit is back,” *said Richard Emery, Founding Partner of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff and Abady and Attorney for the Committee to Save Cooper Union.* “The changes dictated by the settlement explore every possible way to get the school back to free tuition; give students, faculty and alumni a powerful role in Cooper’s governance; and create a more fiscally conservative approach supported by a reshaped Board of Trustees.  The Attorney General heeded our call for oversight and intervention and was key to brokering a settlement that delivers immediate results and sets the stage for an ultimate return to free tuition.  Justice for Peter Cooper and all those who benefited from his great experiment is now a promise that must be kept.”

“We commend the Attorney General for the efforts of his office in helping to forge this agreement, which will enable us to turn our focus to the future of The Cooper Union in a manner that is inclusive of and transparent to our community,” said *Richard S. Lincer, chairman of The Cooper Union Board of Trustees*. “We hope that this framework will enable us to develop and build support to sustain the strengths of this great institution for future generations of students.”

“The Cooper Union Alumni Association is encouraged by the news of this settlement agreement. As alumni, we are direct beneficiaries of Peter Cooper’s gift of free education, and understand — on a deeply personal level — the importance of the full tuition scholarship in making our alma mater a vibrant and unique environment for learning,” *the Cooper Union Alumni Association said*. “As elected representatives of a diverse constituency, the CUAA Council maintained a neutral stance throughout the course of this litigation. However, we have, by resolution, remained steadfastly committed to the preservation of Peter Cooper’s mission and vision, and have welcomed the efforts of the Office of the Attorney General. We are profoundly grateful to the OAG, the Board of Trustees, and the Committee to Save Cooper Union for laying a groundwork in this settlement agreement that mandates the development of a strategic plan to return to the full scholarship model. Furthermore, we are humbled by and proud of the creative efforts, perseverance and personal sacrifices made by countless Cooper Union alumni, students, faculty, and staff in the last four years in their endeavor to defend the historic Mission of Cooper Union. We welcome the opportunity to provide additional alumni representation on the Board of Trustees, and stand with the entire community, willing and ready to commence work on the challenging task before us. Once again, we would like to thank the Office of the Attorney General for recognizing the Cooper Union and its full scholarship policy as a national treasure, and valuing the CUAA’s role in its stewardship.”

The Attorney General’s financial and operational investigation, which began in August 2014 and the results of which are being released today, revealed that Cooper Union’s current financial problems are rooted in the failure of a 2006 plan to finance the construction of a new academic building at 41 Cooper Square.  The plan involved the school taking out a $175 million mortgage loan on the land it owns beneath the Chrysler Building, while simultaneously committing to a long-term renegotiation of its lease with the tenant that owns and operates the building.

The Board of Trustees’ projections showed that the plan would keep the school solvent for at least the 30-year term of the mortgage loan.  However, the Attorney General’s investigation showed that the plan relied on optimistic assumptions to achieve that long-term solvency projection, including an assumption that the school could safely invest $35 million in borrowed funds in the stock market and profit by making returns in excess of the loan’s interest rate.  The investigation determined that the Board’s review of the plan did not include risk assessment of, or contingency planning for the failure of any of these assumptions.

The investigation further showed that these key assumptions were already beginning to fail by 2007.  After the stock market crashed in 2008, the entire $35 million borrowed for investment purposes was lost, and the plan’s projections unraveled.   The school then became locked into a spiral of escalating debt service and deficit spending that threatened to consume its endowment.

In 2009 and 2010, The Board and administration continued to provide financial information suggesting to the Cooper Union community and the public that the school’s finances were sound and that the loan plan was working. After the financial crisis and the depletion of Cooper Union’s endowment were revealed to the Cooper Union community by a new president in late 2011, tuition was proposed as a means to fill the budget gap. The imposition of tuition in a school with a tradition of free education divided the Cooper Union community.  To address these concerns, a working group process was created to examine alternatives to the imposition of tuition.

(Long Island, NY) Third Squad detectives report the arrest of a Brooklyn woman for grand larceny that occurred in Greenvale and Hicksville on 08/13/15 and 08/23/15, respectively.

Nassau County Police report the arrest of Raquel Davila, 54, of Brooklyn for grand larceny that occurred in Greenvale and Hicksville. Photo Credit: NCPD.

According to detectives, Raquel Davila, 54, entered TJ Maxx stores located at 90 Northern Blvd., Greenvale and 410 South Oyster Bay Rd., Hicksville, along with three other female subjects (not yet apprehended), and removed assorted Michael Kors merchandise from the store without paying. The total value taken from the two locations is $14,237.57.

Pictured above is Subject 1 of three other female suspects involved in this incident that have not yet apprehended. Photo Credit: NCPD.

Third Squad detectives arrested Davila on Tuesday, 09/01/15 at her residence. The defendant was found to be in possession of cocaine. She is being charged with Grand Larceny 3rd Degree, Grand Larceny 4th Degree and Criminal Possession Controlled Substance 7th Degree.

Pictured above is Subject 2 of three other female suspects involved in this incident that have not yet apprehended. Photo Credit: NCPD.

Detectives ask anyone with information about the three subjects to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

Pictured above is Subject 3 of three other female suspects involved in this incident that have not yet apprehended. Photo Credit: NCPD.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

(Long Island, NY) First Squad detectives are investigating a robbery that occurred in Baldwin on Tuesday, 09/01/15 at 8:34 P.M.

According to detectives, a male subject, armed with a silver handgun, entered OK Petroleum gas station located at 1270 Grand Ave., approached the attendant and demanded money. The victim, 64, handed over an undisclosed amount of cash.

Nassau County Police are investigating a robbery that occurred in Baldwin on Tuesday, 09/01. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle.

The subject fled on foot westbound on Westminster Rd. where he got into a dark colored SUV and continued to flee westbound on Westminster Rd.

No injuries were reported.

The subject is described as a male black, wearing blue jeans, gray sweat shirt and a NY Yankees baseball hat. No further description is available.

Detectives ask anyone with information regarding this crime to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

(Long Island, NY) First Squad detectives report the details of an arrest for an assault that occurred in Merrick on Tuesday, 09/01/15 at 11:50 A.M.

According to detectives, Timothy Burzynski, 26, of Merrick, while in his home shot a male victim, 31, with a pellet rifle from his window. The victim had been doing construction work across the street and the defendant was being disturbed by the noise. Police recovered the pellet gun in addition to seven other firearms and assorted ammunition.

Nassau County Police report the details of an arrest for an assault that occurred in Merrick on Tuesday, 09/01. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle.

Nassau County Police Ambulance transported the victim to a local hospital for treatment of a pellet gun wound to the upper back.

Burzynski is being charged with Assault 2nd Degree, Criminal Possession Weapon 4th Degree, Criminal Possession Weapon 3rd Degree and will be arraigned on Wednesday, 09/02/15 in First District Court, Hempstead.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

(Long Island, NY) It’s back to school time and Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano and Acting Police Commissioner Thomas C. Krumpter would like to issue some school bus safety tips for students and motorists.

Some facts about school bus safety are as follows:

• The most dangerous part of the school bus ride is getting on and off the school bus.
• Pedestrian fatalities (while loading and unloading school buses) account for approximately three times as many school bus-related fatalities, when compared to school bus occupant fatalities.
• The loading and unloading area is called the “Danger Zone”.
• The “Danger Zone” is the area on all sides of the bus where children are in the most danger of not being seen by the driver (ten feet in front of the bus where the driver may be too high to see a child, ten feet on either side of the bus where a child may be in the driver’s blind spot, and the area behind the school bus).
• More than half of the pedestrian fatalities in school bus-related crashes are children between 5 and 7 years old.
• Young children are most likely to be struck because they:
  • Hurry to get on and off the bus
  • Act before they think and have little experience with traffic
  • Assume motorists will see them and will wait for them to cross the street
  • Don’t always stay within the bus driver’s sight
• Studies have shown that many drivers illegally pass stopped school buses that are loading/unloading students.

Students riding a school bus should always:

• Arrive at the bus stop five minutes early.
• Stand at least 5 giant steps (10 feet) away from the edge of the road.
• Wait until the bus stops, the door opens, and the driver says its okay before stepping onto the bus.
• Be careful that clothing with drawstrings and book bags with straps or dangling objects do not get caught in the handrail or door when exiting the bus.
• Walk in front of the bus; never walk behind the bus.
• Walk on the sidewalk or along the side of the road to a point at least five giant steps (10 feet) ahead.
• Be sure the bus driver can see you, and you can see the bus driver.
• Stop at the edge of the bus and look left-right-left before crossing.
• Tell the bus driver if you drop something beside the bus. Should you try to pick it up, the bus driver may not see you and drive into you.

During the school bus ride:

• Always sit fully in the seat and face forward
• DO NOT distract the driver
• Never stand on a moving bus
• Obey the driver
• Speak in a low voice
• NEVER stick anything out the window — arms, legs, head, book bags, etc.

Motorists Should:

• Be aware it is illegal in every state to pass a school bus stopped to load/unload students.
• Know and understand laws governing motorist’s driving behavior near a school bus.
• Learn the “flashing signal light system” that school bus drivers use to alert motorists if they are going to stop to load/unload students.
  • Yellow flashing lights indicate the bus is preparing to stop to load or unload children.
  • Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop their vehicles.
  • Red flashing lights and extended stop arms indicate that the bus has stopped, and that children are getting on or off. Motorists MUST stop their cars.
• Begin moving only when the red flashing lights are turned off, the stop arm is withdrawn and the bus begins to move.
• Watch out for young people who may be thinking about getting to school, but may not be thinking about getting there safely.
• Slow Down. Watch for children walking in the street, especially if there are no sidewalks in the neighborhood. Watch for children playing and gathering near bus stops.
• Be Alert. Children arriving late for the bus may dart into the street without looking for traffic.

(Long Island, NY) Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (R,C,I-South Huntington) recently joined the South Huntington community in celebrating William James Burton, of Boy Scout Troop 406, being granted the rank of Eagle. Burton, the second in his family to achieve this distinct honor, was joined by his family, friends, and fellow Boy Scouts this past Saturday.

“Today, we gather to celebrate an upstanding and distinguished young man in the Huntington Community. William Burton, has time-and-time again proven his dedication to our nation, New York State and the Huntington community, through his volunteer efforts during his time as a Boy Scout,” said Lupinacci.

Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (left) honoring Eagle Scout William James Burton (right). Photo Credit: NYS.

“I have been fortunate to know the Burton family for some time, and I greatly appreciate what their son has achieved,” Lupinacci continued as he presented a New York State Assembly Citation and official pin. “On behalf of the 19.75 million residents of New York State and the 10^th Assembly District, I thank you for your dedication to our community and I am confident that your impact in our community will continue for years to come,” Lupinacci concluded.

(Long Island, NY) In recognition of the 70^th anniversary of the end of World War II, the American Airpower Museum, located at 1230 New Highway Farmingdale NY, will honor WWII POWs with the rededication of its renovated POW exhibit, the only permanent exhibit of its kind in the Tri State area.

The event takes place 4 days after the 70^th anniversary of VJ Day, the official date of the end of WWII. On September 2, 1945, Japan signed the documents of surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The war had ended in Europe in May. POWs held in German Camps had been liberated and were already on their way home by wars end in September. The exhibit and the event acknowledge the hardships that our soldiers endured while captives of the enemy.

A number of surviving POWs will be on hand for the rededication. Following the event they will board the museum’s C-47 military transport for a celebratory “liberation flight”.  Speakers attending will be Suffolk County Executive Steven Ballone – Director of

Suffolk County  Veterans Service Agency, Thomas Ronayne – Museum President Jeffrey Clyman and Commander of the Nassau-Suffolk County American Ex-Prisoners of war, Bernadette Missano.

The rededication takes place during the American Airpower Museum’s annual Labor Day Weekend, which this year celebrates the milestone anniversary of the end of WWII with a family oriented program for all ages.

WHEN: Arrival 10:00AM. Ceremony starts at 10:30AM September 5^th

WHERE: The American Airpower Museum, 1230 New Highway, Farmingdale NY 11735