Crimes Nearby: Assault, Forged Checks

Some of the crimes from other Long Island communities in the last week.

Eastmeadow

A man was arrested last week and accused in the .

According to detectives, Brandon Lee Cruz, 19, whose place of residence was not disclosed, allegedly attacked the victim while she was walking on East Meadow Avenue. Police say that Cruz and an unknown woman got out of their car and repeatedly punched and kicked the victim and then stole her cell phone.

Cruz was  arrested following an investigation by the First Squad with the assistance of the Fugitive Squad and the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force.

Cruz is charged with two counts of second-degree robbery, resisting arrest, violation of probation and violation of conditional discharge.

New Hyde Park

Nassau County Police arrested a Florda man for from the on Hillside Avenue in New Hyde Park. Police allegedly saw marijuana in the car alongside the man’s two children.

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A New Hyde Park woman was one of six persons which were used to withdraw $5,800 from a Nassau County Police Federal Credit Union account.

Garden City
Nassau County Police are investigating a reckless endangerment incident that occurred in Garden City last week.

Detectives say an unknown person or persons fired shots from an unidentified weapon, perhaps even multiple weapons, around 5:40 p.m. into an office building located at 666 Old Country Road.

The projectiles struck windows located on the seventh floor of the building, shattering one and leaving a hole consistent with a shot in another. There were no injuries reported.
 
Farmingdale

A man attempted unsuccessfully to rob a gas station worker Sunday night on Conklin Street, Nassau County police said Monday.

According to detectives, a 50-year-old male employee closed the Valero Gas Station at 545 Conklin St. and entered his vehicle parked in the lot.

A man wearing a plastic bag over his head approached the worker, pulled a handgun, and demanded money. When the worker said he had none, the gunman fled on foot toward Secatogue Avenue. There were no proceeds and no injuries were reported.

Long Beach
A homeless man from Long Beach was arrested and charged with burglary after .

According to Nassau County Police Department detectives, Ronald Miller, 34, was wanted for burglaries at two locations last year, and was known to have an open New York State Parole Warrant.

Policed allege that on Oct. 31, 2011, Miller entered Shamrock gas station, at 17 Merrick Rd. in Baldwin, and removed a laptop computer, cigarettes and cash on; and on Nov. 6, 2011, he broke a glass garage door and entered a BP gas station in Oceanside, where no losses were reported. During both burglaries, the defendant left evidence at the scenes that linked him to the crimes, police said.

A Long Beach detective spotted him on East Chester Street on April 20. Miller ran and led Long Beach police on a short foot pursuit but was apprehended behind houses on East Chester Street. No injuries were reported.  

Miller was charged with two counts of third-degree burglary, second-degree and fourth-degree criminal mischief, fourth-degree grand larceny, and possession of burglary tools.

Malverne-West Hempstead

A 49-year-old man was arrested last week in West Hempstead after in Hempstead. Police said Dennis Sibert went to the residence of a 60-year-old woman on Union Place in Hempstead on Tuesday, April 17. Around 9:50 p.m., Sibert allegedly struck the apartment building with an incendiary device, causing both the building and ground to ignite.

Nassau County Police are investigating two incidents of in West Hempstead. According to detectives, a 53-year-old female noticed a swastika painted on the front window of her Wilson Street home on April 13. A second incident was reported on April 16 by a 35-year-old male, who discovered a swastika, approximately two feet high by two feet wide, painted on the passenger door of his 1999 Volkswagen at his Ivy Street residence, police said. Both incidents are under investigation.

Commack

A former employee at the  in Commack was indicted last week on nearly 50 charges, after authorities say he stole the identity of 56 individuals with brain injuries and used them to file false state and federal tax returns.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota called 30-year-old Benjamin Achampong a "shameless, incorrigible thief and forger.” 

Achampong - a former resident of Port Jefferson Station and Coram - was extradited to Suffolk last week as he sat in a Georgia prison on 16 identity theft charges.

He stands charged on 48 counts in Suffolk, alleging grand larceny in the third degree, identity theft in the second degree, offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree and possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.

Authorities said the investigation to find the suspect lasted 14 months, and Achampong ran his scheme during his employment with LIHIA from 2006 to 2007. He reportedly cashed checks ranging in value from $200 to $2,000.