By Jeff Lipton
When Paccione realized that the box he was carrying was for collections at Sacred Heart Church, at 282 Long Beach Rd., the landscaper sprang into action.
He said he was driving home from work at about 2 p.m. on April 26, when he stopped the man, later identified as 52-year-old Wayne Ekander, who is homeless, on the church steps and asked him what he was doing. ³I said, ŒWhere are you going with that [box]?¹ And he said, ŒThis is mine, this is mine.¹²
According to police, the suspect was walking out of the church carrying the donation box for the poor over his shoulder, with a dungaree jacket partially covering the wooden box in an attempt to conceal it. The box was about four feet tall and weighed more than 75 pounds.
Paccione, 28, said he wouldn¹t let the suspect go until police arrived. In addition to the collection box, 4th Precinct police found the suspect in possession of two checks made out to the church, roughly in the amount of $20,000, which had been stolen from the church about a month earlier, officials said. Paccione said the suspect allegedly offered him the stolen checks if he would let him go, but the landscaper would have none of that.
Paccione, who with his father owns Paccione Landscaping in Island Park, said he has lived in the neighborhood all his life and was not about to let someone just walk off with the collection box that belonged to his church.
³Island Park is a small community, where everyone knows everyone else,² said Paccione, who lives around the corner from the church. ³I didn¹t recognize this guy. Once I saw he had the collection box, I did what I had to do.²
Ironically, Paccione said, since the man was homeless and probably needed the money for clothes and food, if he went to the church, he probably would have received a donation. ³I just don¹t think it was right for him to take all the donations from the church,² said Paccione, and deprive some other needy people of help.
Ekander was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. He was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on April 27.
Comments about this story? Jlipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
