By JEFF LIPTON
The three suspects were arrested by an alert police officer, John Calvacca of the 4th Precinct, who saw the smoke in the vicinity of Novak Car Salvage Yard, at 4 Hampton Rd., and spotted the suspects running from the location, authorities said. The suspects were identified as 16-year-old Rafael Fernandez of Kildare Road in Island Park, and two boys, ages 15 and 12, who were not named because they are minors, officials said.
According to investigators, the boys rode to the salvage yard on their bikes shortly after 10 p.m. on Monday, June 18, and may have scaled a fence enclosing the yard to get inside.
³Apparently they were in there and they got rambunctious like kids sometimes do,² said Detective Sgt. Ronald Nesbitt of the 4th Squad. ³They started rummaging around looking for parts and picked up a couple of items. ³Before leaving the yard, they set a car on fire,² Nesbitt added. ³And the fire leaped from the car to several other cars, and before long it became a full-fledged conflagration.²
He said Officer Calvacca, whom he credited with excellent police work, ³saw the kids and the plume of smoke, put two and two together and stopped the kids.²
In his haste to elude the officer, the 12-year-old suspect injured his arm when he ran from the location and fell, detectives said. He was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital, where he was treated and released, police said.
Nesbitt said the youths stole the speakers from one of the cars before intentionally setting one car on fire, which quickly spread to six other vehicles in the yard.
Fire investigators said they are convinced the blaze was deliberately set. ³There was nothing accidental about it,² said Vincent McManus, a supervisor with the Nassau County Fire Marshal. ³They were there to steal car parts and in the course of doing that, they set a car on fire and it spread to other vehicles on all four sides.²
Ken Novak, the owner of the salvage yard, which is also known as Used Auto Parts.com, said that in addition to the seven cars damaged by the fire, an additional seven to eight cars were vandalized by the suspects, who tried to break open the trunks on the vehicles in their search for stereo equipment.
³It¹s terrible, terrible,² said Novak, who has been involved in the business for 30 years. ³I¹ve had a few incidents over the years but nothing like this.
³It¹s just crazy,² he added. ³These kids are riding around on their bikes at 10 at night, when they should be home with their parents.²
Novak also said, ³I¹m very thankful to the Nassau County Police Department and the Oceanside Fire Department for their quick response and professionalism. Without them getting there, this thing could have been a lot worse.²
The youths were charged with third-degree arson, possession of burglar¹s tools, petit larceny and third-degree criminal trespass, police said. Fernandez was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on June 19 and the juveniles will be arraigned in Family Court.
The youths are not believed to have any prior arrest records, said Nesbitt, who added, ³hopefully they have learned their lesson.²
Comments about this story? Jlipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
