Hicksville Man Among Trio Accused of Selling Illegal Fireworks

The owner and two employees of a Port Jefferson Station card store were arrested Saturday afternoon for illegally selling fireworks from the business, police said.

According to police, an anonymous tip led to the discovery of about 65 boxes of fireworks on display and in the back room of Card Smart, located at 1051 Route 112, just south of Route 347.

When Sixth Precinct officers responded to the store at about 4 p.m. Saturday, they found fireworks–with names including Saturn Missiles, Splendid Flower, Big Bad Bucket, Anaconda and Tornado Alley–openly displayed for sale in the front of the store with price tags, police said.

The owner of the store, Ketan Shah, 46, of Hicksville, and two employees, Vijaykumar Patel , 30, of Elmhurst, and Nancy Sapienza, 65, of Ridge, were arrested and each charged with unlawfully dealing with fireworks and dangerous fireworks–a misdemeanor. Patel and Sapienza were issued field appearance tickets returnable to court at a later date.

Shah is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on June 28.

SCPD photo: Ketan Shah