Police: Lake Grove Man Now Up to 49 License Suspensions Arrested After Driving Again

A week after being released from jail once again, a Lake Grove man whose license has now been suspended 49 times was arrested on Thursday for driving without license.

Police say Highway Patrol Officer Matthew Dewitt was on routine patrol when he observed a man speeding and not wearing a seatbelt in a 2002 Buick on westbound Sunrise Highway near exit 56, Station Road, in Bellport at about 2:10 p.m.

Dewitt initiated a traffic stop and an investigation revealed that the driver, James Tomassi, had a license that has been suspended 49 times, police said. Tomassi has received 34 separate tickets on 16 different dates.

Tomassi was charged with felony aggravated unlicensed operation. He was also given tickets for not wearing a seatbelt and speeding, police said. The vehicle was impounded.

Tomassi is being held at the Fifth Precinct and is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Friday.

Tomassi has now been arrested three times since making headlines last month after police revealed that his license had, at that point, been suspended or revoked 45 times.

Tomassi was arrested on Nov. 16 on charges of first degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle–a felony–and a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of an accident with injury.

In that case, police say Tomassi crashed a 2003 Nissan Sentra into a tree on Hawkins Road in Centereach. Tomassi fled the scene on foot, police said. A passenger in the vehicle was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for chest pains.

Tomassi posted $30,000 bond and was released from jail on Nov. 20, court records show.

Before his Nov. 16 arrest, Tomassi had been free on $90,000 bond stemming from his arrest on Oct. 3 after he crashed his motorcycle into a car in Nesconset.

Tomassi posted that $90,000 bond on Oct. 22, court records show. The next day, Tomassi was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of an accident and first degree criminal contempt.

Tomassi was arraigned on those charges on Oct. 24. District Court Judge Paul Hensley released Tomassi on his own recognizance, according to court records.

Prior to October, Tomassi has been arrested on five other occasions in 2014 on a range of charges, including aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief, criminal contempt and harassment.

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