Joshua Roston, the man charged with hitting and killing popular South Hempstead gas station manager Cemal Dagdeviren in January, was back in Nassau County April 9 and arraigned on murder and other charges. Roston, a homeless man whose last known address was in Baldwin, had fought extradition to Long Island after he turned himself in to Philadelphia police on Jan. 18. A Philadelphia judge issued an extradition order, known as a governor’s warrant, earlier this month, according to the Nassau County Police Department. Roston faces three counts of second-degree murder, leaving the scene of an incident, two counts of first-degree robbery, one count of third-degree robbery, three counts of petit larceny and two counts of first-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument. Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, of the NCPD’s Homicide Squad, said that Roston was charged with three counts of murder because there are many ways to kill someone. “And in this particular incident,” Fitzpatrick explained at a news conference the day the charges were filed, “this conformed into any one of those three categories.” According to the indictment, on Jan. 14, Roston intended to kill Dagdeviren when he struck him as he tried to avoid paying for $22 worth of gas at the Pit Stop in South Hempstead. Dagdeviren tried to stop Roston from leaving the gas station without paying, which he had done a number of times, the NCPD said. The second murder charge alleges that Roston acted in a way that created a grave risk of death to another person. “It was a particularly heinous and depraved way that he ran over Mr. Dagdeviren,” Fitzpatrick said. The third count states that Roston’s alleged robbery of the gas station caused Dagdeviren’s death. If convicted of any one of the murder charges, Roston faces 25 years to life in prison. He is due back in court on May 9. The other charges stem from previous incidents in which Roston allegedly fled gas stations without paying, and the forged instrument charges relate to cases in which he tried to pay for gas with counterfeit money. He was previously convicted of assaulting a Nassau County police officer and has convictions in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and North Carolina for other crimes. “This wasn’t a first-time occurrence for Mr. Roston,” Fitzpatrick said. “He knew what he was doing, and on that day he chose to take a life.” Roston will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement. “An innocent 59-year-old man lost his life because this defendant allegedly chose to run him over rather than pay for $22 worth of gas,” Singas said. “This senseless murder shocks the conscience, and our prosecutors will aggressively seek justice for Mr. Dagdeviren and his family.” Joseph LoPiccolo, Roston’s attorney, had not returned calls seeking comment as the Herald went to press. In interviews with several TV stations, LoPiccolo said his client was innocent of murder and that he fled the gas station in an act of self-defense. “He believes he was fleeing for his own safety at that time,” LoPiccolo said. LoPiccolo also stated that Roston was unaware that he had hit Dagdeviren. “I’ll let that one play out in court,” Fitzpatrick said at the news conference. Roston turned himself in to Philadelphia police once his name and photo from a prior arrest were released on television, but fought extradition to Nassau County for close to three months. LoPiccolo said that Roston went to Philadelphia police in an attempt to clear his name. Hundreds of Baldwin, South Hempstead and Rockville Centre residents mourned Dagdeviren after he was run down. He was remembered as a kind man and a conscientious business owner. “I think it might just give a small level of comfort, a small amount of comfort to the Dagdeviren family, that the guy who did this has been extradited back here,” Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, a Baldwinite who lives near the Pit Stop, said. “He’s in custody here, the D.A. will take over and make sure he’s prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” Dagdeviren’s son Ceyhun stood alongside law enforcement personnel at the news conference, but declined to speak with reporters. more

The Nassau County Police Department has identified a suspect in the vehicular homicide of a beloved South Hempstead gas station owner. Patrick Ryder, NCPD commissioner, said police have received … more

According to detectives, on Sunday, August 20, at 1:53 a.m., a 31-year-old man knocked on the door of Valero Gas Station on Grand Avenue and stated to the male employee that he had been shot in the left leg. more

An armed man held up a clerk at a Baldwin gas station on Aug. 11, making away with an unknown amount of money, Nassau police said. No injuries were reported. According to authorities, a man … more

More than two dozen gas stations, accused of excessively raising prices in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, will be paying fines to the state after settlements were announced on May 2 by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. more

In the chaotic weeks after Hurricane Sandy rolled across Nassau County, residents, desperate for the gasoline that was in such short supply, learned a new routine: get up before dawn and get to an open gas station before your friends and neighbors did. more

A law passed by the Town of Hempstead on Jan. 22 requires fueling stations within the township to carry back-up generators capable of powering its fuel pumps during power outages. more

Weather forecasters are often criticized for being wrong. With Hurricane Sandy, we wish they had been. more

Nassau County residents in dire need of gasoline may be seeing some relief over the coming days. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that he has signed an Executive Order to allow distributors to transport gasoline, diesel and kerosene into the New York without having to meet the usual registration requirements. more