By:Jeff Lipton
A small but feisty suspect sent two police officers and a sergeant to the hospital during a fierce struggle last week, when the cops tried to arrest the man for allegedly passing stolen forged checks at a North Lawrence store, authorities said.
It finally took four officers to subdue the suspect, Adam Wainwright, 21, of Far Rockaway, and arrest him on a host of charges. During the struggle, police said, he pushed the two officers to the ground and threw the sergeant through a glass storm door.
All three policemen were treated at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside and released the same night. The two officers remained on sick leave as of Monday afternoon.
"This guy was throwing cops around like a sack of potatoes," said one police official, "and this is a little guy, but he's wiry. All of these cops are not little guys and they are in excellent shape. He was very strong and desperate. He was not going to go to jail."
The suspect entered Tobacco Road, a smoke shop at 315 Rockaway Turnpike, at 9:44 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 9. The suspect was wanted for three previous occasions when he allegedly cashed stolen forged checks at the shop. The storekeeper was informed to call police the next time the man showed up, authorities said. When he arrived at the shop last Thursday night, the storekeeper dialed 911 without the suspect knowing it and stalled Wainwright until police arrived.
Police Officer Timothy McHugh, who responded on a previous occasion to a report of a stolen forged check at the location, was informed by the store manager that it was the same suspect, and McHugh tried to place the man under arrest. Wainwright was asked to place his hands on the counter, but when the officer attempted to handcuff him, Wainwright pushed McHugh into a wall and a struggle ensued, officials said.
During the fight, McHugh was pushed to the ground and received a cut to his right knee. Wainwright then ran out the back of the store as McHugh radioed for assistance. Police Officer Thomas Hughes and Sgt. David Curry and two other officers responded and found Wainwright hiding behind a fence under some bushes in a side yard of 9 Lawrence Lane, authorities said.
The officers repeatedly told the suspect to stop and to get on the ground, but he kept walking toward them, police said. When Wainwright got close enough, the officers again tried to place him under arrest. But the suspect, who is 5-foot-8 and about 150 pounds, pushed Curry through a glass window of a storm door, causing a cut to the inside of Curry's arm. Hughes was then thrown to the ground and suffered a back injury, police said.
With the help of other officers, police finally managed to subdue Wainwright and charged him with three counts of assault in the second degree, two counts of possession of a forged instrument, criminal mischief in the second degree and two counts of resisting arrest.
He was not pushing around small cops, either. McHugh is a star player on the county Police Benevolent Association hockey team.
"I hate to see any cops get hurt," said Insp. George Gudmundsen, Fourth Precinct commander. "But when they are performing their jobs and performing their duties, it's unfortunate, but it often happens."
Wainwright was arraigned Aug. 10 in First District Court in Hempstead. He was being held on $120,000 bond or $60,000 cash bail, according to a spokesperson for the Nassau County District Attorney. Wainwright has a previous arrest record, including for armed robbery in Queens in January, said police, who did not know the outcome of that case.
