Rockville Centre police officer Stephen Reidy named 'Cop of the Month'

Rockville Centre Police Officer Stephen Reidy was named “Cop of the Month” by the Rockville Centre Police Department for alert police work that led to the arrest of two men on auto theft and other charges.

Officer Reidy, on routine patrol Aug. 20 at about 1 a.m., noticed a car speeding north on North Long Beach Road.

When Reidy attempted to stop it, the driver fled east on Muirfield Road. The passenger also exited the car. During the pursuit, the car struck a mailbox and a street sign at Milburn Street and then came to rest on the front lawn of 95 Muirfield Road.

Reidy arrested the car's passenger, Michael Opperman, 28, of Cedar Avenue near the vehicle and established a perimeter with other police units to capture the driver who had fled the scene. The Nassau County Police Canine Unit located the second man, Arshard Panchu, 21, also of Cedar Avenue, under a deck in the rear yard of 80 Muirfield Road. Reidy assisted in the second arrest.

A subsequent investigation determined that the vehicle used by the two men, a 2008 black Audi, had been stolen from a Park Place residence moments before Reidy spotted the speeding car.

The two men were charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, both felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Panchu was also charged with unlawful fleeing, resisting arrest, reckless driving and other violations of vehicle and traffic laws.

Police Commissioner Chuck Gennario commended Officer Reidy for his "diligence, dedication to duty and highly professional conduct" in naming him Cop of the Month and thanked him at the Sept. 7 Village Board of Trustees meeting for ridding the streets of "two career criminals."

Reidy will also receive a Town of Hempstead Police Service Award on Sept. 21 in recognition of outstanding police work in May 2009 that led to the arrest of two Rockville Centre men for armed robbery.