Authorities broke up two street takeovers 40 minutes apart Saturday night in East Garden City and Ronkonkoma amid a crackdown on the illegal road rallies, Nassau County and Suffolk County police said.
In the first case, Third Precinct officers on patrol discovered what Nassau police described as a “a large-scale illegal vehicle rally and possible street takeover” on Stewart Avenue near Roosevelt Field Mall at 9:37 p.m. Officers with the Bureau of Special Operations, Aviation Unit, Criminal Intelligence Rapid Response Team, and Emergency Service Unit responded to issue 31 summonses, impound two vehicles and arrest 25-year-old Daniel Tiburcio of Wantagh, who was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument and traffic violations.
Then at 10:15 p.m., the Suffolk police caught more than 40 vehicles participating in a street takeover in the parking lot of the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station, where “two pick-up trucks were doing donuts around other vehicles and bystanders,” police said. Officers with the Street Takeover Task Force, Criminal Intelligence unit and from all seven precincts descended on the parking lot, blocked all exits, impounded a 2002 Dodge Ram and cited its driver, 19-year-old Michael Watson of Ronkonkoma. He was summonsed for performing a side show and engaging in stunt behavior and three additional traffic tickets.
A second driver, 24-year-old Jason Merino of Medford, was arrested nearby and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle under Angelica’s Law for driving with 35 suspensions on nine dates. His vehicle, a 2006 Honda sedan, was also impounded.
The dual road rally busts came about a week after Suffolk police formed the new Street Takeover Task Force in response to an incident in which a police officer was dragged by a vehicle that had been doing donuts in a crowd at the corner of Commack Road and the Sunrise Highway service road in Islip at 1 a.m. on Nov. 3.
In that case, a Third Precinct officer struck a utility pole while trying to avoid hitting a person in the roadway while responding to multiple 911 calls of multiple vehicles blocking traffic, police said. The officer walked into the crowd and stopped the driver of a Ford Mustang who was driving recklessly in circles but was then punched by multiple people in the crowd before the driver fled, dragging the officer as he held onto the Mustang, police said. The Mustang fled the scene, crashed and then the driver fled on foot, police added. The officer was treated for his injuries at a local hospital, as was a second officer that was also injured responding to the chaotic scene in which participants in the street takeover slashed three tires of a patrol car, police said.
The driver, 21-year-old Dennis Kaprov of Brooklyn, was arrested and charged with assault, reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of an accident, and unlawful speed contests, sideshows and races. A second suspect, 20-year-old Jordy Yanzaguano of Westbury, who allegedly participated in the same street takeover and also abandoned his vehicle, a Chrysler 300M with a Hellcat emblem, was charged with reckless endangerment and unlawful speed contests, sideshows and races.
The Islip Fire Department reported that its firefighters were blocked from responding to the scene of car fires that erupted from the crashes. Video footage of the street takeover circulating on social media reveal a wild scene of people standing in the middle of what is normally a busy intersection as sports cars to donuts in the middle of the street, within feet of pedestrians. It marked a significant escalation of lawlessness in a community where packs of ATV riders have routinely popped wheelies while driving down Main Street for years, residents consistently complain of fireworks being shot off year-round —not just on the Fourth of July — and a local bar recently allowed a horse inside.
“Our investigation is far from over,” Suffolk County Police Deputy Commissioner Kevin Catalina told reporters Nov. 8 during a news conference announcing the formation of the task force. “This isn’t kid behavior. This is criminal behavior.”
He said the task force includes a dedicated detective searching social media to track when and where a street takeover may occur next. Police also announced that there will be a $500 “fast cash” reward for anyone who provides information leading to an arrest of a suspect involved in a street takeover.
“We are not plea bargaining these cases,” added Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “This needs to end. This is a public health issue.”
The task force was formed four weeks after local officials called on the New York State Legislature to pass legislation to increase penalties for participating in a street takeover in response to an incident in Miller Place in which participants blocked an ambulance from helping a person who was injured. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico called that incident “a night of coordinated criminal chaos.” The bill would establish the offense of aggravated reckless driving and allow for the seizure and forfeiture of vehicles used in connection with reckless driving or aggravated reckless driving.
“So-called street takeovers are a growing and dangerous phenomena that are now happening right here in our communities,” state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) said. “The State Legislature needs to take swift and decisive action to increase penalties for those who drive recklessly in our communities and hinder the response of our emergency services — police, fire and EMS.”
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine added that he wants the state to authorize police to crush vehicles seized in street takeovers. He said, “This kind of reckless behavior will not be tolerated in Suffolk County.”
