Rockville Centre's Siar honored for identity theft arrest

Police Officer Evan Siar was named “Cop of the Month” by the Rockville Centre Police Department for the December pursuit and arrest of a man who fled from Hollywood Court where a resident had been victimized by identity theft earlier in the day.

Officer Siar responded at about 8 p.m. on Dec. 22 to a call about a suspicious person who had been ringing the doorbell of a home to which a delivery of unordered baby formula had been made earlier in the day.

Siar observed an occupied vehicle in front of the residence with its lights off. As he approached, the vehicle sped off and turned south on Hempstead Avenue.

After a pursuit and stop of the vehicle, Siar observed the driver opening his mobile phone and attempting to ingest the phone’s SIM card which contains call and location data.

Subsequent investigation revealed that the subject, a Bronx resident, was in possession of a forged New York State driver’s license and had identification paperwork linking him to the Hollywood Court address. In addition, the vehicle’s registration was revoked and the operator of the vehicle had a suspended driver’s license.

At the same time that Siar was arresting the subject, the Hollywood Court resident was at Rockville Centre police headquarters filing a police report for identity theft after she had learned that her credit card had been used without her knowledge to make the online purchase of the baby formula.

The subject was charged with identity theft, attempted grand larceny, criminal possession of a forged instrument, tampering with physical evidence, resisting arrest and several vehicle and traffic law misdemeanors.

Police Commissioner Chuck Gennario commended Officer Siar for his “diligence, dedication to duty and highly professional conduct” in naming him Cop of the Month.