A day after the underwhelming Mike Tyson vs. Logan Paul failed to sweep the nation, a batch of unruly locals overwhelmed the streets—but not for long, as Suffolk County police swept them good.
On Saturday, Nov. 16th at approximately 10:15 p.m., uniformed officers of the recently-formed Suffolk County Police Street Takeover Task Force converged upon a scene that formed at Ronkonkoma Train Station.
However, no hijinks like the ambulance passage obstruction in Miller Place and concurrent escapades in Mastic-Shirley last month ensued. This time, the boys in blue were the ones blocking all exitways before issuing arrests.
According to police reports, Michael Watson, 19, of Ronkonkoma, was cited for “Performing a Side Show and Engaging in Stunt Behavior.” His 2002 Dodge Ram was subsequently impounded, the result of his most egregious crime coupled with three additional traffic tickets.
Jason Merino, 24, was also apprehended. The Medford resident was charged with “Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 1st Degree” under Angelica’s Law. Like Watson’s vehicular weapon of choice-no-more, his 2006 Honda sedan was also impounded.
Police say Merino was driving with 35 suspensions on 9 dates. He will be arraigned at First District Court.
A frenzy of “Fast and Furious”-inspired car-meets turned drag races have popped up in several Suffolk towns of late. As The South Shore Press extensively reported in October, the serious injuring of a 19-year-old woman—who suffered a broken leg and pelvis, according to Assemblyman Joe DeStefano, after being struck by Brooklynite fleeing Patchogue’s Gateway Plaza—led to additional local legislators making swift demands for amended laws, and new laws altogether.
Senator Anthony Palumbo and Assemblywoman Jodie Giglio were amongst those who stood at the Miller Place Fire Department-held press conferences last month as local faces behind a new bill proposed to stiffen the penalties for perpetrators of organized events that encourage the inciting of road mayhem.
“As we continue to witness the rise of reckless driving in our communities, it’s clear that immediate action is necessary to protect public safety and ensure that our emergency vehicles can operate without obstruction,” Giglio said at the time. “The incident in Brookhaven serves as a stark reminder of the risks posed to both drivers and pedestrians when individuals choose to engage in this illegal activity. These measures are crucial for deterring dangerous behavior and providing law enforcement with the tools needed to hold offenders accountable.”
Most notably, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney did not mince words when he likened all past, present and future night riders with total disregard for their fellow man and community to nothing but “wannabe racecar drivers.”
What’s been considerably more troublesome about these recurring events—not just countywide, but islandwide—is just how coordinated they have seemed to become.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine previously revealed participants in the crime-indulging sector of the car meet-up culture resurgence are not as slick as they hold their free-wheeling selves out to be. A substantial lot of them, says Romaine, were actually located in short order last month after it was discerned that they had arranged simultaneous street takeovers at multiple locations over social media platforms like Facebook.
Similarly, while the Ronkonkoma bust took shape on Saturday night, Nassau County Police were also cracking down on a gathering of East Garden City warriors.
Just like in Ronkonkoma, crime was eradicated with harm done to no one.
The two-pronged bust comes just a week after the Street Takeover Task Force commenced action. The task force exists as a wholly necessary, and quick solution—with the approval of the legislators’ proposals still pending—implemented in direct response to the Nov. 3rd incident in Islip.
Before a mass crowd at 1 a.m. that night, a single officer who responded to reports of a driver “doing donuts” at the corner of Commack Road and Sunrise Highway was dragged by said driver.
The driver—Dennis Kaprov, 21, of Brooklyn—was arrested and charged with assault, reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of an accident, and unlawful speed contests, sideshows and races.
Save for the assault, 20-year-old Jordy Yanzaguano, of Westbury, was hit with the same charges.
Afterward, the Islip Fire Department mirrored the regrettable misfortunes within the Miller Place incident, stating their firefighters were blocked from fighting the fires born from the crashes this incident culminated in; to combat the escalation of lawlessness in a historically humbler area, Suffolk County Police Deputy Commissioner Kevin Catalina assured: “Our investigation is far from over.”
“This isn’t kid behavior,” he said. “This is criminal behavior.”
Police are now offering a $500 “fast cash” reward to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of suspects in all successive street takeover incidents.
“There’s no way we’re going to let this happen in our communities,” Assemblyman DeStefano, who spent 27 years with the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office, said at last month’s Miller Place press conference—an evergreen sentiment that still rings true today, and moving forward.
“So-called street takeovers are a growing and dangerous phenomena that are now happening right here in our communities,” Sen. Palumbo added. “The State Legislature needs to take swift and decisive action to increase penalties for those who drive recklessly in our communities and hinder the response of our emergency services — police, fire and EMS.”
“We are not plea bargaining these cases,” DA Tierney insists. “This needs to end. This is a public health issue.”