News: Recent Crimes and Incidents on Long Island
(Long Island, N.Y.) Last night a house fire broke out in Malverne at the home of sixty-two-year-old widow. Around seven-thirty an emergency team put out the small fire, which is believed to have started by a bathroom wastebasket. They later found the woman dead and lying on the bathroom floor.
The widow had lived alone in the house for years since the death of her husband and was a mother of four. One of the woman’s children came to check on her daily. The fire is believed to have originated where her body was found on the first-floor bathroom of the two-story house.
Firefighters said that the fire was contained to the wastebasket, the contents of the cabinet, and items on the bathroom floor. While some reports stated that the fire never spread into the walls, others claimed that the bathroom wall had ignited.
The Malverne and Lynbrook Fire Department both responded to the call, as well as the Malverne Police Department and Ambulance Corps. Between thirty and fifty firefighters were at the scene, taking minutes to extinguish the flames. At least eight pieces of equipment were used to contain the fire.
Both the Nassau County Fire Marshall and arson/bomb squad were called to investigate. Though the fire was ruled non-suspicious and accidental, officials are still investigating. Some reports claim that many cigarettes were found at the home, but no evidence points to an exact cause of the fire.
After the woman was discovered, medical staff and technicians attempted to revive her. They claim that she did not appear to be breathing and was pronounced dead at eight o’clock that night. Smoke inhalation is believed to be the cause of death, though nothing has been confirmed by the coroner.
In other news, a sixty-one-year-old substitute teacher was arrested at roughly six-thirty Thursday morning for three counts of promoting the sexual performance of a child. The man was in possession of over four hundred images of child pornography, and was also charged with two counts of possession. He was arrested by Nassau County Police and arraigned today at First District Court in Hempstead.
The teacher, from Massapequa Park, worked for the Cold Spring Harbor School District. Police say that the files on his home computer were used to share images of child pornography with other online users. His school computer was checked but nothing explicit was discovered by authorities.
The school district he worked for claims he was immediately suspended without pay after they learned of the charges. He was a general sub who never had complaints or problems brought to the attention of school authorities.
In another story, a twenty-one-year-old man from Dix Hills was arrested for robbing seven banks in the last five weeks. Suffolk County Major Case Investigations Unit is continuing their investigation and additional charges are expected to be brought against him. The Second Precinct Neighborhood Enforcement/Special Operations Team and the Detective Special Operations Team were also involved in the case.
Metropolitan Transit Authority Police and New York City Police helped detain the suspect from a Long Island Rail Road train in Brooklyn, and he was arraigned today at First District Court in Central Islip. Among the banks he robbed were TD Banks in North Babylon, West Islip, Commack, and Lake Grove, Bank of America in Deer Park and West Babylon, and Capital One in Babylon. The robberies occurred between February 17th and March 24th. The man also had a twenty-one-year-old accomplice in the February 23rd robbery of the TD Bank in West Islip. The accomplice faces charges for one count of robbery.
