Crime & Safety

LI Crimes: Murder Arrest, $1 Million Meant For Sandy Victims Stolen, Off-Duty Trooper Charged With DWI

A look at recent crime headlines island-wide.

(Photo: Charles Pray is charged with second degree murder in the death of Farmingville’s Monica Lino.)

Here are some of the top crime stories from across Long Island over the past week (click the links to read the full articles):

10 People Arrested for Theft of Nearly $1 Million From SNAP

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A 25-count indictment was announced Tuesday against two Suffolk County convenience store owner/operators, one store employee and seven Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) recipients who illegally traded cash for hundreds of thousands of dollars in SNAP benefits that were meant for Hurricane Sandy victims.

Police: Bay Shore Man Charged in Murder of Farmingville Woman

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A Bay Shore man has been arrested and charged with murder in the death of Monica Lino, police said.

Charles Pray, 34, was arrested on Monday, a day after Lino was found dead in her home on Berkshire Drive in Farmingville.

A car belonging to Lino, 36, was found in a parking lot in Merrick on Monday morning. Police said Pray killed Lino inside her home.

DA: Man Pleads Guilty to Vehicular Homicide in Fatal Crash

A Queens man pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in a high speed car crash that killed four of his friends, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.

Joseph Beer, 19, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and driving while impaired by drugs in front of Judge David Sullivan Tuesday, said the DA. Sullivan also found Beer guilty of driving without a license.

Cops: Off-Duty Trooper Drives Drunk, Slams into Another Trooper

An off-duty trooper was drunk at the wheel this weekend when he slammed into a parked state trooper’s car, reported New York State Police.

Cops said an on-duty Valley Stream Barracks trooper was stopped on the right shoulder of the eastbound Southern State Parkway when he was rear-ended by a Honda.

The trooper got out of his patrol car to speak with the driver, Brendan Murphy, 28, of the Bronx, cops said. When the trooper doubled back to radio for another patrol car, Murphy reportedly drove around him and continued for another 200 feet before he was pulled over again, police said.

Police: Bicyclist in Critical Condition After Being Hit by Drunken Driver

A Wyandanch man was critically injured after police say a drunken driver struck him while he was riding his bicycle in Wyandanch early Saturday morning.

According to police, Marion Johnson, 63, was driving a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu northbound on Straight Path when his vehicle struck Ishmeil Thomas, who was riding his bike on Straight Path at 1:27 a.m.

Man Robbed Inside North Babylon Home

Police are investigating a robbery that occurred inside a North Babylon residence early Tuesday morning.

The incident at about 1:30 a.m. on Mohawk Drive, police said.

Two men punched a victim and robbed him of cash, jewelry and a cellphone, police said.

Cops: Duo Sought in Home Burglary

Suffolk County Police are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man and woman authorities said burglarized a Melville home in June.

Police say the duo entered a Lattice Court home on June 24, 2014 at approximately 10:45 a.m. and stole jewelry, handbags and an iPad.

The two fled in a black 2014 Chevrolet Impala with a rear white license plate from an unknown state, and no front license plate, police said.

Former NY Yankee Convicted of Sexually Abusing Child

A former New York Yankee was found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl he coached in youth baseball, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.

Rosendo “Rusty” Torres, 65, of North Massapequa, was found guilty of five counts of first-degree sex abuse by a Nassau County jury, said the DA.

Torres faces a maximum of seven years in prison for each guilty verdict, or 35 years in total, said the DA.

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