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Mostly Cloudy Police: Four charged with criminal mischief after West Hempstead crash
Four local men — including two from West Hempstead — were arrested this week after placing explosives inside of three mailboxes in Elmont and crashing a vehicle in West Hempstead.
Daniel Aviles, 21, of Farmingdale, Jacob Guerrero III, 21, of West Hempstead, and John Pinzon, 20, of West Hempstead, were arrested on April 2, in connection with the incidents. On April 3 at 8:40 p.m., Jorge Martinez, 21, of Deer Park, was arrested in Westbury.
According to the Nassau County Police Department, at 2:05 a.m. on Monday, a homeowner on Hunnewell Avenue in Elmont contacted police after he heard an explosion outside his home. He discovered that his detached mailbox had been destroyed, along with the various pieces of mail inside, by fireworks. Detectives said that a stand-alone United States Postal Mailbox at Madison Street and Cross Street in Elmont was also damaged by fireworks at 5:15 a.m.
According to police, a third explosive was placed in a mailbox on Clement Avenue in Elmont. All four men were charged with three counts each of first-degree criminal mischief.
Several hours after the Elmont incidents occurred, at 8:27 a.m. on Monday, 5th Precinct police found Aviles recklessly driving a Ford SUV heading east on Hawthorne Avenue in West Hempstead. Aviles, along with Pinzon, Guerrero and another suspect who has not yet been apprehended, were screaming out of the windows, swerving in the roadway and tailgating a car in front of them, police said.
Police said that Aviles ignored an order to pull over and continued at a high rate of speed, until he lost control of the SUV, causing the vehicle to overturn and strike a tree in front of 615 Gaynor Place. As officers helped the men from the car, police said, a strong smell of alcohol emanated from the vehicle and the defendants. Several alcoholic beverages were found inside of the vehicle, police said.
The four men were taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons, where they were checked and released.
In addition to criminal mischief charges, Aviles was charged with first-degree aggravated unlicensed DWI, third-degree unlawful fleeing of a police officer, reckless driving and DWI, among other charges. Aviles, Guerrero and Pinzon were arraigned on April 3, in First District Court in Hempstead. Martinez is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead on April 4.
