4 Police Officers Hospitalized After Exposure To Unidentified Substance During Assault Arrest, PD Says

ISLAND PARK, NY — Four police officers and a 29-year-old Island Park man were hospitalized Saturday after police found an unidentified substance in a pill bottle after breaking up a fist fight, police said.

Nassau County police said 29-year-old Michael Leonetti was in a verbal argument with the 62-year-old man at a home in Island Park when the argument escalated, leading to Leonetti pushing the older man to the ground and punching him in the head. When the 62-year-old said he was going to call the police, Leonetti took the man’s phone and threw it against a wall, damaging the phone and putting a hole in the wall, police said.

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After responding to the home and investigating, police found Leonetti in possession of a pill bottle full of an unidentified substance, police said. After being exposed to this unknown substance, the four officers and Leonetti were taken to the hospital, police said.

In the aftermath of the arrest, Leonetti is being charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, third-degree criminal mischief, third-degree menacing and third-degree assault, police said. His arraignment, police said, will take place when medically permissible. Police did not identify the substance when announcing the arrest.