The church has been very good to us, said Patricia Shea, founder of Mommas House. We have been using the house for 13 years, and Ive probably overstayed my welcome.
Mommas House officially closed in the fall.
Soggy Sunday at the Atria
On a morning when it was advisable to stay indoors, about 20 residents of the Atria Assisted Living Complex in Lynbrook scurried out into the 12-degree cold after a burst pipe gushed water into the first-floor lobby.
The Lynbrook Fire Department received a call about an electrical fire at the 200-bed senior center on Peninsula Boulevard at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 11 according to First Deputy Chief David Pearsall. When firefighters reached the complex, they found a waterfall from the ceiling cascading into the buildings lobby.
Fire officials determined that the leak was caused by a burst sprinkler pipe in the ceiling. The water caused the lighting fixtures in the lobby to short-circuit, and the force of the waterfall pushed out ceiling tiles and quickly flooded the area.
We shut the power down to eliminate any hazards other than the water, said Pearsall. During that time about 15 to 20 residents evacuated the building on their own.
With the intention of providing a warm haven for the seniors who had evacuated, and with the possibility that all residents might have to leave the building, Pearsall put out a call for mutual aid. The East Rockaway, Valley Stream and Hewlett fire departments answered, sending ambulances, which protected those who chose to leave the building from the bitter cold.
We investigated the building, and found no fire or smoke as a result of the water leak, Pearsall said.
The department stopped evacuating residents and instead escorted them to other floors, away from the flooded lobby. About an hour later, those who had evacuated on their own were escorted back into the building when power was restored.
There were no injuries reported.
Cabbie arrested for rape
A West Hempstead man who worked as a driver for a Merrick taxi cab company was arrested for allegedly raping and robbing a 30-year-old woman on early Saturday, Jan. 17. As if that wasnt enough, the suspect gave police a 20-mile chase that caused damage to two police cars and a guard rail on the Southern State Parkway.
Detectives at the sex crimes unit identified the cab driver as Christopher Willard, 26, of Oakford Street in West Hempstead. Willard worked as a taxi driver for Long Island Checker Cab running out of Merrick.
At about 12:45 a.m. Jan. 17, he was dispatched to the Mirage, a nightclub located on Merrick Avenue in Westbury, to picked up a 30-year-old woman. She asked to be taken to a friends house in Bellmore. Police said Willard drove the woman to the friends house, but her friend was not at home.
Detectives said Willard then drove his passenger to another location somewhere in Bellmore, where he allegedly raped her and stole money from her pocketbook. He then dropped the woman off at the friends house.
Police were quickly called and after an initial investigation, they paid a visit to the cab companys office in Merrick. The dispatcher called Willard back into the office for questioning and, according to police, Willard drove up to the office, saw police cars and drove away from the area.
Willard led police on a 20-mile chase and struck two police cars and drove into the guard rail as he transferred from the Meadowbrook Parkway into the eastbound Southern State Parkway, police said.
After the accident, Willard exited the vehicle and ran into a wooded area where he was pursued and subsequently arrested at 3:30 a.m. Police reported no injuries during the car chase, but one officer was cut on the leg while pursuing Willard on foot.
Willard was charged with rape in the first degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree and resisting arrest. Police have he did have a prior record of petty crimes in Nassau County.
Penzess memory flying high
Father Larry Penzes, Our Lady of Peace priest, who was slain in 2002 while saying Mass, had an administrative building at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey dedicated in his honor. The reverend, 50,was a United States Air Force chaplain who traveled with soldiers to the Persian Gulf offering encouragement and spiritual strength to the troops there.
Members of the 514th Air Mobility Wing, 50 members of Our Lady of Peace congregation and Penzes brothers Bob and Ken attended the ceremony.
FEBRUARY
Prognosticator predicts
Malverne Melissa, celebrating the one year anniversary of her marriage to Malverne Mel, saw her shadow and predicted another six weeks of winter. Unfortunately, she was right.
Charged in Lynbrook murder
Four members of the Latin Kings gang and a female accomplice who allegedly provided the transportation and the weapon were arrested and charged with the September 2003 murder of a 37-year-old Lynbrook man, Anthony Battaglia.
Police said that Nelson Zuniga, 19, shot Battaglia and Omar Delarosa, 18, stabbed him. They were charged with first-degree murder as well as first-degree attempted robbery. Janny Paez, 20, Marina Musso, 21, and Fernando Moronta, 20, were all charged with second-degree murder and first-degree attempted robbery.
Battaglia was on his way home from work and was walking from the Lynbrook Long Island Rail Road station around 11:30 p.m., when police say he was accosted by the robbers. Battaglia put up a fight, but was beaten, shot and stabbed by the robbers, who then drove away. Battaglia, who was mortally wounded, managed to crawl to his back door, where he was found by his wife.
The arrests were part of a five month-long investigation. Police said that all five arrested were responsible for a months-long robbery spree prior to the killing, including the robbery of a Rockville Centre couple three hours before Battaglias murder and robberies that occurred in Oceanside and Long Beach earlier that week.
We are proud to announce
Richner Communications, the parent company of Herald Community Newspapers, announced the birth of the Lynbrook/East Rockaway Herald and the formation of the Malverne/West Hempstead Herald in an effort to provide more focused coverage of the communities.
Malverne teams in playoffs
After beating Carle Place 75-57 to win the Nassau County Class B semifinals, the Malverne High School boys basketball team defeated North Shore 32-27 to win the Nassau County Class B title at SUNY-Old Westbury. That set up a showdown with Southampton March 13 at the SUNY-Stony Brook Sport Complex.
The Mules rolled to a 81-46 victory, spurred by Darrell Wonge, who scored a game-high 20 points.
In the Class B New York State Championship in late March, Malverne lost a 53-52 heartbreaker to JFK-Somers at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
The Lady Mules advanced to the Nassau County Class B title game, but were downed 65-53 by Wendy Szcerbiak and Cold Spring Harbor in February.
WH man charged with bank heists
Police arrested a West Hempstead man in connection with the robbery of the Bank of New York in Island Park and two later bank heists in West and South Hempstead.
Charles Riehl, 33, was arrested by officers from the Bureau of Special Operations after he produced a note demanding cash at Roslyn Savings Bank, 50 Hempstead Ave. in West Hempstead, at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 24. Riehl fled the bank with about $2,000 and ran to the nearby Courtesy Motel, police said.
He was charged with three counts of third-degree robbery.
Police officers Edward Alonge and Michael Knatz responded to information transmitted by Fifth Precinct personnel about the suspects description and did a routine check of area motels. They reportedly found Riehl at the Courtesy, 130 Hempstead Ave., where he had been living for several weeks while searching for an apartment, police said.
They responded to the description of the bad guy and they went to the Courtesy Motel, Detective Sgt. Gary Schriffen of the Nassau County Robbery Squad told the Herald. After a short investigation they came up with our subject, who a short time later was identified by the bank tellers that were brought to the motel.
Schriffen said the proceeds from the robbery were recovered inside Riehls motel room, but police came up empty-handed when searching for cash he allegedly got away with from two earlier bank holdups.
Police said Riehl is suspected of robbing the Bank of New York in Island Park on Feb. 18 at 11:05 a.m., by passing a note demanding cash. About $4,200 was taken. At the time of the heist, five customers and six employees went about their business, none of whom were injured.
Riehl was also charged with robbing a Fleet Bank at 1150 Grand Ave. in South Hempstead on Feb. 23. Police said that around 2:06 p.m., he passed a note to a bank teller demanding money and put his hand in his pocket to indicate to the teller he had a gun. The teller handed over about $200, and the suspect fled northbound on Grand Avenue with the money.
Just the money from the West Hempstead bank was recovered, Schriffen said. We believe the other money has been spent.
Schriffen said there was a similar M.O. tying all the robberies together. In each instance, the subject used a note and indicated he had a gun. Each time he escaped with a small amount of cash, and each time he wore a blue-and-black coat.
Pleads guilty in child sex abuse
A 38-year-old West Hempstead woman pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in February to charges that she and her husband sexually abused their then-six-year-old daughter and videotaped the acts.
The quiet neighborhood along Mayfair Avenue was shaken in November 2001 when two residents, a husband and wife, were arrested by federal agents after a search of the couples home.
According to a complaint issued by the U.S. Attorneys office, the search revealed evidence of child pornography, including what officials described as a videotaped recording of the couple engaged in sexual relations with the girl.
The husband pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his daughter in October 2003 and faces 168 to 210 months in prison. The mother faces 188 to 235 months in prison.
MARCH
Malvernes Peter Hawkins, the champion wheelchair racer, attended an assembly with Lynbrook North and South Middle School students, extolling the dangers of drinking and driving. Hawkins, who was a high school star athlete, was paralyzed from the waist down in an alcohol related car accident when he was a senior in high school. Nassau County District Court Judge Scott Fairgrieve and Francis Doyle, director of the STOP DWI program at the Nassau County Correctional Center lead the discussion.
Mutual support
Representatives from the villages of East Rockaway and Malverne gave a presentation explaining the inter-municipal agreement between five neighboring villages that will provide aid to each other in the event of a disaster or major emergency. The Mutual Aid Agreement is considered to be a model arrangement, having passed the scrutiny of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the State Emergency Management Agency.
WH, Malverne propose
budget increases
For the 2004-05 year, the West Hempstead School District proposed a budget of $42,856,186, a 7 percent increase over the previous budget.
The Malverne School District proposed a $35,277,755 budget for 2004-2005, an increase of 6.26 percent over the 2003-2004 budget.
Soldiers homecoming
On the first anniversary of Americas invasion of Iraq, the Town of Hempstead welcomed home one of its own from the war in a patriotic ceremony in late March, with residents packing the courthouse and waving American flags and support our troops signs.
Army Reservist Sgt. Matthew Schmidt, a West Hempstead resident and Town of Hempstead employee, served in Baghdad for 14 months as a civil affairs specialist, helping to rebuild schools and police stations in the war-torn city and setting up security forces.
Schmidt, 23, a graduate of Carey High School in Franklin Square, said that while he and his team of five other soldiers were always on alert, they accomplished a great deal and felt support from a majority of Iraqi citizens. We got the schools open in six months we were trying to get kids off the street, said Schmidt after the ceremony. Eighty-five percent of Iraqis love that we were there. We were going in to get their freedom, but freedom doesnt mean its free.
Schmidt, who worked for the New York City Police Department for a year and is a volunteer firefighter with the Franklin Square Fire Department, began work in the towns public safety department in January 2002. Just over a year later he was deployed to Iraq.
Health aide accused
of foul play
Police arrested a Hicksville home health aide for allegedly swiping baseball memorabilia from the Malverne home of a former pro ballplayer, a longtime Los Angeles Dodgers scout whom he was caring for.
Leonardo Basilio, 31, of 31 Jerome Ave. in Hicksville, was arrested on Mar. 21 and charged with second-degree grand larceny. Basilio, who worked for Aging at Home of Mineola, was hired on March 8 to care for 77-year-old Rudolf Rudy Rufer in his home for one week, while Rufer was recovering from a stroke he suffered after undergoing an operation for colon cancer in late February, said Rufers daughter, Peg, who asked that her last name not be used.
Police said Rufer, who played shortstop for the New York Giants and was a scout with the Dodgers for 25 years, showed Basilio some of his baseball memorabilia, including his 1959 Dodgers championship ring; a baseball signed by legendary players such as Sandy Koufax, Don Sutton, Steve Garvey and Don Drysdale; a baseball bat signed in 1966 by Dodgers players; and a 1975 magazine article about Rufer.
Basilio ended his employment with Rufer on March 12. The following day, Rufer discovered that his championship ring was missing, said his daughter. He never goes out without his ring on, said Peg.
Rufers family discovered that other items were also missing, and contacted the Malverne Police Department on March 18. Malverne police worked with detectives in the Fifth Squad, who tracked the stolen items to Basilio. All of the items were recovered and returned to Rufer except the magazine article, which Basilio apparently threw away.
Rufer grew up in Queens, and at age 23, he was called up in late September 1949 to join a less-than-stellar Giants squad managed by Leo Durocher. In 1949 and 1950, Rufer played 22 games, but found it hard to stick with the team once Alvin Dark took over as the everyday shortstop.
After brief minor league stints with the Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers, Rufer stayed in the game as a scout. While working for the Dodgers, he signed All-Star outfielder and former Mets manager Bobby Valentine. I never met a boy as determined as he was, Rufer said of his star in a 1991 interview.
Police said Basilio did not have any prior criminal convictions in Nassau County.
Rufers daughter said that the agency came highly recommended, and that Basilio seemed attentive and experienced. He was a smooth operator, said Peg.
Rufers daughter said her father was distraught after the theft was discovered, but is recovering. He was so upset, we thought hed have another stroke, she said, but added, Hes exhausted ... [but] hes doing great.
Form new lacrosse team
Five years ago, East Rockaway Athletic Director Dominick Vulpis got the idea to combine East Rockaway and Malverne into a sole lacrosse program, and that goal officially became a reality. The new program saved a hurting Malverne team, which has seen a lack of participation and has only recorded six boys varsity wins since 2001, including five last season, and created the very first East Rockaway lacrosse team.
[The merger] has rounded out the positions and brought more athleticism, said East Rockaway/Malverne boys coach Craig Caputo. This has raised the bar on every player.
Even though Malverne sported girls and boys lacrosse programs for the last five years three as varsity sports 2004 was East Rockaways debut season, thanks to the financial support of the Malverne School District in return for the fiscal favors East Rockaway extended to Malverne in the Rocks golf program.
The Mules, with Athletic Director Brenda White, agreed to fund the entire lacrosse program, with the exception of transportation for East Rockaway to and from Malverne High School the practice and home turf for the new team leaving East Rockaway to pick up that portion of the tab.
This is sharing resources piggybacking, Vulpis said. Combining two teams offers kids an opportunity they wouldnt have because of the numbers being too low.
In order to alleviate the transportation costs for East Rockaway, the newly formed program hosted a lacrosse jamboree in March at East Rockaway High School. Kids from ages 8 to 18 were treated to a morning breakfast followed by a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) highlight video. The day was capped with a skills clinic featuring the expertise of Long Island Lizards two-time MLL All-Star and Bethpage High School graduate A. J. Haugen, along with All-American and Long Beach graduate Kenny Garcia.
The event raised $3,000, including a $500 voucher given to East Rockaway after graduate Ksenia Ferrand was named the top female athlete in Nassau County last year.
Baby found dead
at Capri Motel
Despite attempts by rescue workers to revive her, a five-month-old baby girl died in late March after her parents found her lifeless on their bed at a motel in West Hempstead.
Police said that the babys father, 26-year-old Jason Goins, had placed his daughter, Cleopatra, between himself and the babys mother during the night on some pillows inside the Capri Motel because she had been cranky. The Goins were living at the motel with Cleopatra and three other children.
The couple went to sleep, and when Goins woke up, the baby was unresponsive and not breathing. Goins called 911. When police and ambulance crews arrived, they began CPR and rushed the infant to Winthrop-University Hospital. The baby was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
When Goins learned that his baby had died, he fell down a flight of stairs at the motel and was also taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a broken hand.
Detectives said there was no criminality involved and no charges were filed against the parents.
APRIL
Heralds win 13 awards
New York Press Association judges recognized Herald Community Newspapers the first weekend in April for their commitment to quality community journalism, calling them to the podium 13 times at awards ceremonies in Saratoga Springs for NYPAs 2003 Better Newspaper Contest.
District 13s school
budget up 10 percent
A 9.9 percent, or $2.9 million budget-to-budget increase, was proposed in District 13 for 2004-2005. The proposed budget called for a tax increase of $277 for the average homeowner, based on a tax rate increase of $9.23 per $100 of assessed value.
Welcoming new
bookworms
Davison Avenue Elementary School Librarian Susan Teeter inducted the schools newest bookworms. Students of Mr. Greens kindergarten class (above) celebrated their new bookworm status with Sparky, the library mascot.
Malverne native
honored
Valley Stream North High alumnus and Malverne native John Hanc was named to the 2004 edition of Whos Who Among Americas Teachers.
The educators selected for this honor were nominated by students who themselves have been listed in Whos Who Among American High School Students or the National Deans List.
Hanc is an associate professor of communication arts at the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, where he teaches classes in journalism, writing and public relations, and is also the faculty advisor for the NYIT student newspaper, The Campus Slate. He has taught at NYIT since 1989.
A longtime journalist and writer, specializing in fitness and active sports, Hanc is a regular contributor to Newsday, and a frequent contributor to Runners World magazine.
Hanc, a 1973 graduate of V.S. North, earned his bachelor of science degree at Emerson College and his masters in journalism from the University of Wisconsin. He lives in Farmingdale with wife, Donna, and son, Andrew.
