North Merrick Crime Update, Stop Signs on Agenda at Civic Meeting

Mary Beth Bryne has waited a long time for a stop sign to be installed at the corner of Camp Avenue and Chapin Avenue. 

Last year, someone drove through a fence and into her house located on the southwest corner of the two streets.  And 37 years ago, Bryne's brother was hit by a vehicle in front of the house and spent a week in a coma.

So when an inspector from the Town of Hempstead's Traffic Control Division announced Monday night at a North Merrick Civic Association meeting that a four-way stop sign was coming to Camp and Chapin, the crowd broke out into applause.

"I'm very happy," Bryne said.  "Thirty eight years later, I finally get a stop sign."  

Representatives from the town departments of buildings and engineering were also on hand at the North Merrick Library to discuss resident concerns. 

Civil engineer Kevin Almirall said that the town had recently hired a consultant to help redesign some of the streets in the campgrounds area, such as Fletcher Avenue and Abbot Avenue.    

"It's not going to be easy," Almirall said.  "It will take some time." 

North Merrick Crime Update

Officers from the First Precinct's P.O.P. unit reported on several crime incidents and arrests made in North Merrick over the last month: 

• On April 2, a Roosevelt man was arrested for possession of marijuana at Amend Drive and Noel Court.
• On April 13, tires were slashed on a vehicle on Abbott Avenue. 
• On April 15, windows were smashed on a vehicle on Horatio Avenue. 
• On April 16, police arrested a Bellmore man for shoplifting from Stop & Shop. 
• On April 17, a shoplifter was reported at Ace Wines and Spirits. The female suspect got away.
• On April 20, police reported that a man was arrested on Anding Avenue in a spray painting incident related to an ongoing neighbor dispute.
• On April 22, police arrested a Roosevelt man for dealing drugs on Meadowbrook Road.
• On April 22, a GPS was stolen from a vehicle on Schmerhorn Street.  
• On April 30, windows were smashed on a vehicle on Kees Place. 
• On April 30, a GPS was stolen from a vehicle on Benson Lane.
• On May 2, a pocketbook was stolen from a vehicle on Merrick Avenue.
• On May 3, police arrested an employee of Dunkin Donuts after he blocked a 21-year-old woman in the bathroom and attempted to kiss her. The woman was able to get away and call 911.  The employee was arrested and charged with unlawful imprisonment and sexual abuse. 
• On May 12, Giovanni Giacalone, 24, of N. Massapequa, was arrested for a room-for-rent scam.  Police say Giacalone posted a room for rent on Craigslist with the location at 1415 Tadmor Street, North Merrick.  Two people responded to the ad over the course of a month and paid Giacalone a total of $860.   Giacalone is charged with two counts of petit larceny. 
• On May 13, a woman walking her dog near Babylon Turnpike and Kirkwood Avenue in Merrick discovered 25-30 pieces of papers on the street with anti-Semetic messages written on them.  The Seventh Squad and bias unit is investigating.