Disgruntled Employee 'Exacts Revenge' on Co-Workers

A Long Beach man who apparently harbored a long-standing grudge against his co-workers was busted in connection with excessive damage made to victims' vehicles in Garden City and even New York City.

According to Garden City Police Commissioner Ernest J. Cipullo, Long Beach resident Alan Gershberg was charged with eight counts of criminal mischief, which resulted in excess of $45,000 in damages.

Garden City Detective/Sergeant James Bartkowski, commanding officer of the police department's detective division, said Garden City residents began experiencing "inordinate extensive damage" to their parked cars in their driveways in early 2009.

Det./Sgt. Bartkowski, along with Detectives Madden and Rothermel, were assigned to investigate. Police said all leads were exhausted but the cases remained open.

Towards the end of 2009, these same victims were again targeted, according to police, and after reviewing all open reports, they soon realized a pattern developed  - all of the victims were employees of the same company.

With help from Nassau County's Intelligence Section detectives, police further determined that other employees were also targeted, including some in New York City.

The lengthy investigation revealed that Gershberg was a former employee of the same company and that during his employment he "harbored" grudges against the other employees.

According to police, the defendant developed a "target list" of 15 employees and began to "systematically exact revenge."

Police did not specify what company the defendant and victims worked/work for.

Gershberg was arrested, processed and transported to First District Court in Hempstead pending an arraignment. Detectives from Nassau County's 3rd, 6th and 1st Detective Squads, along with New York Police Department Midtown South detectives, assisted in the investigation.

Det./Sgt. Bartkowski said the investigation is continuing.