By JOSEPH KELLARD
Cory Hecht, 18, James McLaughlin, 17, and Carly Meltzer, 18, all of Oceanside, and Carlos Rodriquez, 18, of Baldwin were arrested after they allegedly stole a sign reading "Welcome to the Village of Rockville Centre," a sign from a convenience store, a garden statue, and flags from Burger King and a Shell gas station, both Fourth Precinct and Rockville Centre police reported.
"[The items] were taken from all over Oceanside," Lt. Larry Feffer of the Fourth Precinct said.
The four youths were arrested on Lincoln Avenue and Merrick Road in Rockville Centre by RVC police at approximately 1 a.m. on Saturday, May 3.
Hecht spoke with the Herald on Monday, saying he was arrested for "something stupid" that "got out of control."
That night, at five or six different locations in Oceanside, approximately 100 youths met up and piled into 20 to 25 cars, Hecht said. Hecht was reluctant to comment further on the matter, but reiterated that the "hunt just got out of control."
Of the four youths arrested, Meltzer was not in the same car as Hecht, McLaughlin and Rodriquez.
"I was told they were having a scavenger hunt that kids organized," Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown of Oceanside schools said. "From what I know, a scavenger hunt is a list of things you have to try to find, and apparently very inappropriately [they] put these things on the scavenger hunt list ... and that's how they got arrested. The kids may have gathered at Oceanside High School as a starting point. I'm sorry that it happened, but [the hunt] was not a school-sponsored activity."
At press time, RVC police were unable to provide details of the arrests.
