Crime & Safety

Crimes Nearby: $670k Food Stamp Scheme Squashed

Also: An alleged heroin dealer faces more charges while hospitalized.

The following information was supplied by the East End police departments and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.  A criminal charge is only an accusation and does not indicate guilt.

Riverhead

• A Riverhead resident and downtown shop owner pleaded not guilty Thursday after authorities alleged in a 60-count indictment that he orchestrated a scheme involving his wife and two dozen food stamp holders, robbing the federal government of over $670,000 in the process.

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Ravinder Parkash stood silent in State Supreme Court on Thursday in front of Judge Steven Hudson, who ordered Parkash to be held on $250,000 cash bail or $500,000 bond. But authorities said that beyond the silent front of his East Main Street Snack Shop and Gulf Station, a criminal was operating, checking out big money for himself.

• Michael Bagley, 23, of Blue Point, was arrested on June 24 after he police said he robbed a man at knifepoint several weeks ago.

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According to Riverhead police, a Carle Place resident reported that while sitting in his car at 5:05 a.m. on June 6, a man with a knife came up to him and demanded that he get back into his house, where he reportedly robbed him of $300. Police said the man, wearing a black puffy jacket, then fled on a bicycle toward Segal Avenue. According to the police report, Bagley fled before police got there.

Suffolk County police arrested Bagley on June 12 on separate charges. On June 24, Riverhead police brought him in on charges of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, both felonies, as well as criminal trespass in the second degree, a misdemeanor.

• An ex-convict from Bethpage is going back to jail after pleading guilty to robbing a Wading River bank in February of 2012.

Robert Fornal Jr. pleaded guilty to the sole count of third-degree robbery against him, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. A spokesman said Fornal is set to be sentenced to two-and-a-half to five years in state prison on July 26.

Fornal robbed the Bridgehampton National Bank at the corner of Wading River-Manor Road and Route 25A on Feb. 16, 2012. He escaped the day of the robbery and eluded local authorities, though he was caught by Nassau County police shortly thereafter for reportedly stealing jewelry and chimney caps from homes in East Meadow, and was later charged by Riverhead police.

Southampton  

• A Calverton Hills resident who was hospitalized after fleeing police in May and remains in the custody of the Suffolk County sheriff’s office was arrested on further felony charges last week following an East End Drug Task Force investigation.

Joseph Coffey, 50, suffered a broken femur in mid-May when Southampton Village police tried pulling him over in the midst of a drug investigation stakeout. While allegedly trying to flee police, he was involved in a multi-vehicle car accident.

Despite his injury, he was charged with a slew of crimes, and has been at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead since.

He has been arrested over 50 times since the early 1990s and police said he even listed his occupation as "drug dealer."

More charges came for Coffey on June 18. The task force's investigation claims Coffey sold heroin at Longview Resort Motel in Shinnecock Hills in late February.  

• A Southampton father was arrested on a felony driving while intoxicated charge after police said they caught him driving drunk with his 5-year-old son in the back seat on Monday.

Sebastian Guevara, 34, was pulled over after police said he was swerving while driving west on Montauk Highway in Water Mill at around 1:30 a.m. They said he appeared intoxicated, and performed poorly on field sobriety tests.

His son wasn't wearing a seat belt, according to police.

Guevara was arrested on a felony DWI charge under Leandra's Law, which elevates drunken driving offenses to felonies when children are passengers. He was also charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, and aggravated unlicensed operation in the third degree, a misdemeanor, and traffic violations, including not having a seat belt for a child.

• A driver who backed into a parked vehicle while pulling out of a space on Main Street left like nothing had happened, but when an officer stopped her she was found to be drunk behind the wheel, according to Southampton Village police.

Police said that officers on foot patrol saw Kiera A. Egan, 25, of Sagaponack, hit the vehicle while driving a 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix on June 20 at 2:29 a.m. She was then stopped by police on North Sea Road, arrested, and charged with felony driving while intoxicated, an elevated charge due to a prior DWI conviction.

Police said Egan was supposed to have a court-ordered interlock device on her ignition, which prevents a vehicle from starting if the operator has alcohol on her breath.

In addition to the felony DWI charge, Egan faces charges of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree, a felony, and aggravated DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree, both misdemeanors. She was also cited with two violations: leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Due to her 2010 DWI conviction, police took possession of Egan's vehicle under the Suffolk County Vehicle Seizure Law.

Egan was released after posting $7,500 bail.

North Fork

A Laurel man who police said was nabbed speeding drunk along Route 48 in Mattituck spent the night behind bars.

According to Southold Town police, George McDowell, Jr., 43, was arrested at 7:55 p.m. on Tuesday at Route 48 and Love Lane in Mattituck and charged with driving while intoxicated, a felony. Police said McDowell had a previous DWI conviction, leading to the felony charge.  


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