The latest case out of the Suffolk County DA's office couldn't be better timed to Tax Day. According to DA Thomas Spota, a former manager at a nonprofit health agency on Long Island stole IDs from more than 50 patients with brain injuries—so that he could get their tax refunds. Which strikes us as a lot of dreary paperwork for an estimated $20,000 in New York state refunds. more ›

The Long Island teen whose story of academic excellence while her family fell into homelessness was back in the news yesterday—Suffolk County officials presented Samantha Garvey, her parents and two siblings with keys to a new house! The home, which is being rented to low-income families by Suffolk County, has three bedrooms and was offered to the Garveys after Samantha's story was featured on the front page of Newsday. The Brentwood High School senior said, "I was homeless, and I didn't have a house, and because of the kindness of all these strangers, I do—I have a house! I couldn't have gotten here without education—you make the best of it because it's the end to so many things." more ›

Authorities have confirmed that the remains found earlier in the week in a dense thicket in Oak Beach were those of Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old prostitute from New Jersey who was last seen in May of 2010. Long Island police are also asserting the theory that Gilbert's death is unrelated to the other remains found on Gilgo State Beach. "There's a small sense of peace in that she's no longer suffering," Gilbert's aunt told Newsday. Gilbert's body was spotted around a quarter mile from where her belongings were found. more ›

How many killers have been using the brush by Gilgo Beach as a dumping ground? That is the question! At first folks assumed it was just one killer using the area until last May, when the Suffolk County DA and Police Commissioner came out together to say the bodies were the work of at least least two killers. Then Commissioner Richard Dormer, who retires at the end of the month, came out in November to say that actually there is just one killer. And now DA Thomas Spota is publicly calling BS on that, testifying at a county legislative hearing that he "very, very much disagree with that theory." more ›

Yesterday, Suffolk County authorities announced that 21-year-old David Smith was arrested for pointing a laser at a plane. And he didn't stop there—when a police helicopter flew above to find the offender, the suspect turned continued his illegal activity: Suffolk County police inspector Stewart Cameron said, "We sent one of our helicopters to investigate and it was also lased." Don't lase me, bro! more ›

Yes, lasers are cool, but that doesn't mean you should go around shining them at planes and potentially blind pilots! Yesterday, the Suffolk County Police arrested a 21-year-old Long Island man for his laser antics. more ›

Though Suffolk County police have still not found the body of Shannan Gilbert, the Jersey City prostitue whose disappearance in May 2010 eventually led to the discovery of a Long Island serial killer's dumping ground, they have finally made some progress in her case. Searching the area around Gilgo Beach the last two-and-a-half days police say they've recovered a pocketbook that may be Gilbert's, along with a pair of jeans, shoes and a cellphone. Other unidentified items were also found, though not Gilbert herself. more ›

The holiday season has started, along with lots of revelry—and Long Island police are ready. Suffolk County police made nine drunk driving arrests last night with increased patrols, which will last through New Year's Day. more ›

A Long Island man crashed into a cop car around 2 a.m. this morning and was charged with DWI. As you can see from his mug shot, 22-year-old Kevin Daly is one of the many proud Americans who are "owning it," at a time when more of us should really be renting. Yes, Daly was arrested wearing a T-shirt that reads "I'M NOT AN ALCOHOLIC. I'M A DRUNK. ALCOHOLICS GO TO MEETINGS." What makes this story seem even more contrived is that the cop car that Daly hit was part of a special drunk driving unit, the Suffolk County Police Department’s SAFE-T (Selective Alcohol Fatality Enforcement Team) Section. It seems SAFE-T officers don't really have to go out of their way to bust drunk drivers on Long Island. more ›

A Suffolk County judge sentenced David Laffer, who killed four people at a Medford pharmacy on Father's Day, to five consecutive life sentences in prison. Judge James Hudson, who also sentenced him to 25 years, plus five years probation, for robbing the pharmacy of thousands of prescription pills, asked that Laffer be put in solitary confinement for his time behind bars. more ›

Yesterday's low-key, low-turnout Election Day only provided a few hints toward the nation's mood going into the 2012 presidential election next year. Voters rejected many extreme right measures, while still denying the Democrats a chance to call the election a clear-cut victory. And among the things we learned: Staten Island voters like their incumbent DA, and upstate NY voters reject candidates with artsy nude photos. more ›

It's election day, and the polls in NYC are open until 9 p.m. (PDF). You can see who is running your district by entering your address here—you'll be able to see your voting location and a sample ballot. The biggest race in NYC might be the battle for Staten Island DA, between incumbent Daniel Donovan, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Mike Ryan. The Staten Island Advance reports, "Those working on both sides of the race expect between 25,000 and 30,000 voters will go to the polls today. At the high end, that would be little more than 10 percent of the borough's 268,181 registered voters." So if you can vote in SI, you should go to the polls to show your voice! more ›

There will be a Santa Claus in Suffolk County after all. Earlier this week folks got in quite the huff when the grinches at Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy's budget office decided not to approve a new contract for Dave McKell, the 83-year-old man who has donned St. Nick's gear at the county-owned St. James General Store for the past nine years. Luckily for McKell, today the Democratic candidate going for the executive seat, Steve Bellone, decided to throw a press conference at which he pledged to pay the $660 needed to keep the McKell's ho-ho-hos coming [reg. req'd]. And Bellone swears the move wasn't political! more ›

A cesspool worker was found dead last night in a vat of sewage at a housing complex in Smithtown, Long Island. Police found the body of 43-year-old Richard Dennison, of Central Islip, around 6:45 p.m. last night, after his wife became worried because he hadn't returned home from work. Dennison, who was employed by Oakdale-based United Cesspool Services, was working at the Avalon Commons apartment complex emptying out accumulated sewage in the vat—when something went horribly wrong. more ›

A 30-year-old woman and her 7-year-old son were killed in a horrific car crash yesterday in Manorville. Keri Trinca was driving "on Oceanview Boulevard and as she entered the intersection, she was t-boned by a vehicle heading south on County Road 111," according to WABC 7. A nurse who happened to be driving by the scene told Newsday it was "the most horrible accident I have seen in my life." more ›

Besides a jailhouse interview with the man who admitted to killing four people at a Long Island pharmacy, Newsday has a disturbing article about how a Suffolk County detective actually wanted to remove guns from David Laffer months before the massacre, but his recommendation was ignored: "Despite the warning of Det. Kenneth Ripp, who interviewed Laffer at his home, the pistol bureau said Laffer could keep the guns -- including the registered .45 pistol Laffer used to later murder four people at Haven Drugs in Medford in June -- and that the bureau would investigate, according to a police report by Ripp." more ›

Good news for animal lovers: today, the Long Island swan that was cruelly impaled with an arrow by some sick person in July was released back into the wild, arrow-free. more ›

Were you thinking of heading out to Fire Island to brave Irene? Just stop that. At 3 p.m. today Suffolk County is expected to call for a mandatory evacuation of Fire Island [Reg. Req'd]. In addition those Nassau county residents on barrier islands or in storm-surge areas south of Sunrise Highway and north of Route 25A are being asked to leave as well. But voluntarily (for now). more ›

Yesterday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy asked for a preliminary injunction to bar 37 gang members from a two-mile square "safety zone" in Wyandanch. Levy said, "Gangs ... have a propensity to take over school yards and street corners. They do not own those streets, the people of the community own those streets," and the injunction would prohibit gang members from wearing "gang colors, making gang signs or even gathering on corners or in parks," Newsday reports. more ›

The tragic death of NYPD police officer Patrick Luca, who apparently drowned while kayaking with his son in Long Island's Nissequogue River, is being investigated by Suffolk County's homicide squad. Luca and his five-year-old son had set off for a day of kayaking on Friday around 1:30 p.m.; an hour later, little Caden Luca was found by boaters, floating thanks to his flotation vest, but Luca's body wasn't found until Saturday morning. more ›

It never ends: an accredited freelance news cameraman was arrested by a Long Island police sergeant Friday evening after he refused to stop videotaping an arrest in Bohemia. Here's video of the incident, which the cameraman, Phil Datz, uploaded to YouTube after he was released from custody. As you can see, the video appears to show a hot-headed (and bald-headed) cop bullying a member of the press without any reasonable explanation: more ›

It has been six months since police first started discovering bodies of murdered sex workers on Gilgo State Beach on Long Island and yet police have still not found the killer (or killers). And so the Suffolk County police have decided to up their cash reward for any information in the case. more ›

A Long Island family were the victims of a terrifying home invasion yesterday, which had echoes of the horrific Connecticut home invasion-turned-triple murder. Two intruders, one carrying a gun, forced their way into the home of Thaddeus and Allesandra Lattanzio early Friday morning in Eastport in Suffolk County. more ›

Yesterday, two thousand residents in Shirley and Mastic on Long Island were evacuated at around 1:30 a.m. due to a gas leak. According to Newsday, "A cracked plastic valve on a propane tank was the source of a leak that sent thousands of gallons of toxic, flammable liquefied propane gas." Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said, “It could have been a terrible disaster, a terrible explosion, but fortunately we had seasoned, trained professionals who did their jobs very well and averted a tragedy." more ›

When the Four Loko ban was going down (four days to go!), we had ourselves a good laugh with some "What next? Banning energy drinks/making everyone drink nothing but warm milk?" jokes. But we've learned our lesson, because apparently even thinking such ridiculous things turns them into terrifying realities. A proposal is currently in front of Suffolk County Legislature that could ban anyone 19 and under from buying energy drinks—just regular, non-alcoholic energy drinks, that never hurt anybody. (Oh, wait.) more ›

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, aka the Democrat who became a Republican to try to run for Governor, takes Thanksgiving very seriously. Which is why he's proposing a law that would force stores over 7,500 square feet—wink wink, Kmart and Wal-Mart—to close between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving next year. Why? So employees can spend time with their families. more ›

Anyone who's ever known an addict, or seen the TV show Intervention, knows how serious and debilitating addictions can be, and just how low some addicts would go for a fix. But licensed practical nurse Erick St. Louis, who rummaged through used medical waste to satiate his addiction, might be one of the worst cases we've heard of. more ›