By:Laura Lane
Two Freeport teenagers were arrested for allegedly burglarizing two Merrick homes, on Ivanhoe Drive and Central Boulevard, Aug. 5, instilling both fear and anger in local residents.
Kendall Haynes, 17, and Paul Powell, 16, were arrested on Sunrise Highway early that afternoon, shortly after the burglaries took place.
Police believe the two teens rode their bicycles to the Merrick neighborhood that closely borders Freeport, first breaking into a home on Central Boulevard, then one on nearby Ivanhoe Drive.
The two allegedly had stolen jewelry, video games and a purple backpack with a homeowner's last name written on the back in their possession when they were arrested, police said. The stolen property was returned to the owners.
Haynes and Powell were charged with two counts of second-degree burglary and arraigned in First District Court on Aug. 6.
The arrests, however, did little to quell the fears of residents, who feel police aren't doing enough to keep the neighborhood safe. "We're at the end of the precinct," said Alexandria Young, a 13-year Merrick resident. "They don't show up here much anymore. In this day and age, people aren't home during the day, so they should send the police around more."
Young lives near the burglarized home on Ivanhoe Drive. She said she was unaware of the break-in but added that there have been robberies in the neighborhood before. One New Year's Eve, Young said, she found a camcorder hidden in her bushes that she turned over to the police.
"In the Merrick, Freeport, Baldwin, Oceanside areas we have had burglaries in the last month," said Detective Sgt. John Demartinis of the Seventh Squad. "We are actively investigating them."
After their arrests, Haynes and Powell were charged with two more counts of second-degree burglary in connection with break-ins in Freeport and Baldwin. Demartinis said that only Haynes had a prior record, for marijuana possession.
Inspector Arthur Thompson, of the Seventh Squad, called the burglaries "unusual for Merrick."
Not so, say residents. "Three years ago there was a robbery at a fishing store on Sunrise, and the burglar had a gun to [an undercover police officer's] head on my front lawn," said a neighbor, who asked not to be identified. She lives across the street from the home on Central Boulevard that was robbed, and said that her husband had seen Haynes and Powell riding around the neighborhood the day of the burglary.
"We see a lot of kids from Freeport riding up and down the street, and we also see cars go 90 miles an hour down this street," she said. Her home has been burglarized three times, and she now has an alarm system.
Rachel Polevoy and her husband were home on Ivanhoe Drive when Haynes and Powell allegedly burglarized their neighbor's house. "I am very nervous now, because we did not hear anything," Polevoy said. "Our dog barks a lot anyway, so we did not pay attention to her. The mailman told me later that he saw the boys riding bikes nearby but did not want to get into it with them."
Polevoy said her neighbors are very hard workers, owning a local Chinese take-out restaurant. She said she and her husband always helped them in the winter by shoveling snow from their driveway. The homeowner on Central Boulevard was described as a quiet neighbor.
Neither of the owners of the burglarized homes could be reached for comment.
Central Boulevard resident Glenn Pitzer said he feels his home is safe, since he has an alarm and owns a pit bull. Still, he too believes police need to pay more attention to the neighborhood. "Obviously, the police need to increase patrols," Pitzer said. "This is like a main road, but people do go to work, so anything is possible. Even if you have an alarm, who knows how quick the police will come."
When asked if police would step up patrols in the Merrick neighborhood, Thompson said such a measure was unnecessary. "As of right now, we are on normal routine, because up until this event there had not been anything extraordinary happening," he said. "We're always ready for something, and that is why they got caught."
