Crimes Nearby: Scout Leader Charged with Child Porn, Jury Convicts Murderer

Garden City Scout Leader Charged With Possessing and Promoting Child Porn

A Garden City Boy Scout leader has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies for possessing images of child pornography and making those images available to others via the Internet, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said.

Edward Orenchuk, III, 23, was arrested by DA investigators Wednesday morning.

During August and September 2012, DA investigators witnessed Orenchuk making multiple images of child pornography available over the Internet for download by other people, Rice said. Investigators tracked the source of those images to a Wheeler Avenue residence in E. Garden City, according to the district attorney's office.

Rice said Orenchuk implicated himself during the execution of a search warrant at that home this morning, indicating that he had hundreds of images on his personal computer. The images contain children as young as five years old, Rice said.

“This defendant’s regular contact with children in a position of authority makes these charges that much more disturbing,” Rice said. “My office is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting those who traffic in this horrific material.”

Orenchuk currently works as a page at the Garden City Public Library. An Eagle Scout, Orenchuk also serves as an assistant scout master with Boy Scout Troop #243 in Garden City, according to a report released Wednesday by the district attorney's office. 

Investigators charged Orenchuk with three counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child as a sexually motivated felony and three counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child.

He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.Edward Orenchuk, III, was arraigned Thursday morning before Judge Sondra Pardes on three counts of Promoting a Sexual Performance by A Child as a Sexually Motivated Felony and three counts of Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child. 

Bail was set at $400,000 bond or $100,000 cash and he is due back in court on Dec. 17. Orenchuk was represented at arraignment by the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County.

Wanted DC Man Found Dead in Hempstead

A Washington, D.C. man wanted in connection to the murder of his girlfriend apparently committed suicide last Monday.

According to Nassau County detectives, Hempstead Police Officers responded to Fairway Drive on Dec. 10 at 5:35 p.m. and found a deceased male in his 20’s in a car, who died of an apparent suicide. 

The man wsa identified as Javon Steven Foster, 27, of Washington, DC., Foster was wanted in connection for the murder of his girlfriend, Salina Brown, 20, and the shooting of their daughter, 23 months of age.  The incident occurred on a Metro Bus in Washington, DC on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012.

Jury Convicts Suspect in Gang Murder

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced this week that a jury has convicted Ramiek Smalls of murder and other charges for his involvement in the shooting death of a rival gang member in the parking lot outside a Hempstead bar.

It took a jury a day-and-a-half to convict Smalls, 24, of Freeport, of second-degree Murder, Assault and Criminal Possession of a Weapon. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison at his Jan. 11 sentencing.

Rice said that at approximately 12:35 a.m. on May 31, 2011, Smalls and two other men, Michael Toney, 33, of Uniondale, and Richard Paul, 24, of Floral Park, were at the Rumba Sky nightclub to confront rival gang member Lawrence Hartman, 28, of Freeport over a year-long feud. A fight broke out in the bar’s parking lot shortly before Hartman was set to perform in a hip-hop show at the bar. Smalls shot Hartman in the abdomen and left thigh. Hartman died from his wounds two hours later at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow.

Smalls, Toney, and Paul fled the scene immediately, but were arrested in late June 2011 after an investigation by the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad and Bureau of Special Operations and Freeport Police Department. Toney pleaded guilty to Gang Assault in the Second Degree and Attempted Assault in the Third Degree. Paul pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree. Both men are awaiting sentencing.

After a three-week trial, the jury rejected the defense’s claims that Smalls was not involved in the shooting.

“While our neighborhoods are safer with this murderer in prison, there are no winners here, only families torn apart and communities forced to live in fear.  I want to thank the Nassau and Freeport police departments for their tireless efforts in investigating the case, and for their continuing work with my office and community organizations to combat the destructive cycle of gang violence.”

Pedestrian Fatally Struck on Stewart Avenue

A Hicksville man attempting to cross Stewart Avenue was fatally struck by a car Monday night.

According to Nassau County detectives, Justin Pistoia, 24, of Hicksville was near Endo Boulevard when he was walking across Stewart Avenue in East Garden City. A female driver, 67, in a 2012 Ford sedan allegedly struck the victim around 7:48 p.m.

Nassau County Police Ambulance transported Pistoia, who suffered internal injuries, to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead at 10:54 p.m.  

No other injuries were reported. Detectives report no apparent criminality at this time. The Highway Bureau responded to the scene and performed a brake and safety inspection.  

Resident Thwarts Would-Be Burglar on Kildare Road

A Hempstead teen who works in nearby Garden City Park attempted to burglarize a Garden City home but fled the scene when a resident witnessed him trying to gain access through a window, according to Garden City police.

The 19-year-old was subsequently arrested and charged with attempted burglary of the Kildare Road home as well as previous burglaries on Nov. 27 at a Weyford Terrace residence and on Nov. 30 at a Sackville Road residence, where a rear window was found pried open and several pieces of jewelry discovered missing from a first floor bedroom, police said.

On Dec. 6, at 9 p.m., police received a call from a Kildare Road resident stating that a male subject had just attempted to gain access to his residence through a window.

The resident told police that when the subject saw him, he fled the scene in a van. The resident was able to provide police with the vehicle information.

According to a police report, Officer Florio responded to the area and observed the suspect vehicle traveling north on Denton Road. He stopped the vehicle on Jericho Turnpike.

Six Arrested in Rockville Centre

• On Nov. 26 at 8:31 p.m., Suzanne E. Tkacs, 41, of Rockville Centre, was arrested for driving while intoxicated following an accident investigation by police personnel in the vicinity of Sunrise Highway and N. Village Avenue in Rockville Centre.
• On Nov. 29 at 12:41 a.m., Robert B. Kasna, 38, of Rockville Centre, was arrested for criminal obstruction of breathing following an investigation by police personnel at his residence.
• On Dec. 1 at 2 a.m., Daqquan Rashawn Brown, 21, of Long Beach, was arrested for assault in the second degree, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest following an investigation by police personnel in the vicinity of S. Park Avenue in Rockville Centre.
• On Dec. 2 at 1:24 a.m., Christopher J. Loughlin, 57, of Baldwin, was arrested for driving while intoxicated and vehicle and traffic law violations following an investigation by police personnel in the vicinity of Merrick Road and Morris Avenue in Rockville Centre.
• On Dec. 3 at 2:11 p.m., Robert J. Perez, 31, of Massapequa, was arrested for criminal possession of marijuana in the fifth degree and unlawful possession of marijuana following a police investigation at the Rockville Centre LIRR Station.
• On Dec. 3 at 2:11 p.m., Rahsaad Peterson, 38, of Freeport, was arrested for criminal possession of marijuana in the fifth degree and unlawful possession of marijuana following a police investigation at the Rockville Centre LIRR Station.

Burglars Steal Electronic Equipment from Home

On Nov. 28 at 3:19 p.m., a complainant from Dartmouth Street in Rockville Centre reported that sometime between 8:30 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. unknown person(s) damaged a side window to the residence and stole $5,600 in assorted electronic equipment.

Pair Arrested for Burglary

Two men were arrested on Dec. 11 in Hempstead shortly after they allegedly burglarized a home that morning.

Luke P. Mack, 20, of Uniondale, and Aaron C. Gause, 21, of Roosevelt, were arrested at 10 a.m. for a burglary that occurred at 9:50 a.m. According to Nassau County detectives, the two acted in consort to remove property from a home located on Jane Street. 

The property recovered was a white and red bag, a car stereo and two bottles of alcohol.  Police responded to the scene, located and arrested the pair on the corner of Broadfield Road and Jane Street. Each was charged with one count of second-degree Burglary and were arraigned on Dec. 12 in First District Court.