By JOSEPH KELLARD AND JASON SCHEER
The standoff lasted about three hours before a man and a woman surrendered to police, both unarmed. The phone call now appears to have been bogus, and there was no one being held against their will.
Police did arrest William Lambert, 30, of Franklin Square after he falsely reported that a man was holding a woman hostage at gunpoint at the hotel last Wednesday, July 30.
The night before, Lambert rented room 22 at the motel, at 2730 Long Beach Road, and invited in Leia Little, 32, of Hempstead, an acquaintance of his, and John Green, 36, of Baldwin, said Detective Lt. Greg Detwiller, commanding officer of the Fourth Precinct.
"They were just hanging out, and it's alleged there may have been some drug activity in there," Detwiller said. "As a result, Lambert claimed that Green held him at gunpoint and kicked him out of the room and continued to hold Little at gunpoint."
Lambert made his call to 911 at Nathan's restaurant on Long Beach Road at about 5:30 that morning. "He was pretty emphatic on the phone that the gentlemen in room 22, who he really didn't know, held him at gunpoint, had guns and drugs and was holding a female against her will," Detwiller said.
Police responded to a possible hostage-barricade situation at the motel with a hostage negotiation team and special operations officers who surrounded the motel atop buildings throughout the area.
We were setting up the loudspeakers and ready to go with a remote-control bullhorn, and all of a sudden the people came to the window first and opened the curtains, and they opened the door and the female came out, said Joan Yale, chief of special operations.
"After we entered the room we found no guns or drugs, and the woman was not being held against her will," Detwiller said. "But a further investigation revealed that Mr. Green and Mrs. Little had some drug paraphernalia on them, and drugs." The defendants possessed some crack and a crack pipe, he said.
Detwiller said police are investigating Lambert's motive for making his call to authorities, for which he was charged with third-degree falsely reporting an incident and obstructing governmental administration. Little and Green were arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
"Everything is a hoax -- nothing happened in the room," said a manager of the motel, who declined to give his name. Later that morning, motel employees cleaned up broken glass, damaged furniture and beer cans in room 22.
A neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said she was awakened by police sirens and a helicopter hovering above the motel, and that a she spoke to a police officer who informed her that drugs were involved in the incident.
"The cops are here pretty frequently," she said.
"The police were giving me a hard time when I was coming into the office in the morning," said John Caluori, a superintendent for the Oceanside Fire Department. "They had snipers up on the roof of the Edwards' supermarket and Chinese restaurant across the street."
Arnold Fishcetto, who lives near the motel, said that the incident was nothing new to the motel. "This stuff happens all the time," he said. "There is a lot of drug use." Fishcetto said that the motel should be torn down, calling it "a goddamned eyesore."
A long-time auto repair shop owner next to the motel echoed Fishcetto's sentiments. "I've been here 45 years, and it's a nightmare over there," he said. "There are always police there."
He claims people who take up residence at the motel have vandalized his property, broken windows and stolen supplies from his shop. "I've been robbed, and I know it's coming from there," he said. "It's an attraction for lowlife. It's a shame the county or the town can't do something about it."
In 1988, a woman's beaten and decomposed body was found stuffed beneath a platform bed at the motel, and residents for years have complained about the clientele it attracts. Among the incidents they claim have been perpetrated by the motel's clientele are solicitation for prostitution; stolen, burglarized or vandalized cars; drug use and sales; fist fights; loud parties; underage drinking; garbage dumped on nearby property; beer bottles smashed against homes, and drunks urinating on lawns.
Residents want to see the motel shut down, but for that to happen, two predicate arrests -- which involve prostitution, drug use or unlawful dealing with a minor -- must be made on the premises within a 12-month period, Town of Hempstead attorney Joe Ra said.
Nassau County Legislator Jeff Toback said, "Similar to what we did at the Lincoln Shopping Center, we're looking into, very preliminary, the possibility of maybe condemning the property and having the developer come in and redevelop it."
