Friday, March 8, 2019
Vol. 79, No. 10
HEALTHY COMPETITION
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Legislator examines car boot program BY GARY SIMEONE
Students at the Levittown Gerald R. Claps Career and Technical Center held their annual competition at which they demonstrated skills. Above, cosmetology students show their fantasy hairstyling skills.
Baseball bat attack in Hicksville
Nassau County Police are investigating an assault with a baseball bat which occurred on Friday, March 1 at 8:00 pm in Hicksville. According to Second Precinct detectives, two male juvenile victims were walking near the corner of Dakota Street and Burns Avenue when they were approached by three unknown men who were riding in a white Nissan Rogue. One of the men was carrying a baseball bat and
struck the first victim in the head twice with the bat. Another attacker pushed the second victim to the ground and all three attackers began punching him in the face, knocking him unconscious. The three attackers then fled the scene in an unknown direction. Both victims were transported to area hospitals by family members who then notified the police. The man with the bat is described as black, in his 20s,
with short black hair and a medium build. He was wearing a red shirt. The other two men are described as males in their 20s. No further description was available. Detectives request anyone with information regarding the above incident to contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
In Nassau County, if a person has two unpaid parking or red light camera violations on their vehicle, they can find themselves with a boot on their tire. The boot, which is essentially a metal block on the front wheel, can create undue stress and lost wages for anyone who receives the immobilizing device. Nassau Legislator John Ferretti (Levittown) said that in September 2018, he received a letter from one of his constituents about a boot that was erroneously placed on their vehicle. He has also noticed an uptick in the number of boots on vehicles in his district in the last year. Ferrerri had requested from the County a list of results detailing the number of boots placed on vehicles since 2018 including those that were placed in error. “I wanted the location and placement of every single boot,” said Ferretti. “Specifically, I wanted to see if Levittown was being targeted.” In a County budget hearing last October, administrators had spoken about the expansion of the current boot-and -tow program. David Rich, director of the County’s TPVA (Traffic and Parking Violations Agency,) said that the County planned to amp up the program and any problems such as boots placed in error on people’s vehicles were a thing of the past. “I had questioned him at the time about the program and also requested the list of results to which I never received,” said Ferretti. In December 2018, the legislator received another complaint from a Levittown resident that their vehicle was erroneously booted at the Hicksville train station. The resident complained that when he called the County for the numeric code to unlock the device they refused to give it to him. “This guy sat in the cold for three hours until a private company finally came to take the boot off. The County refused to give him the code.” In early January, Ferretti again inquired about a list of people who were booted and towed, but said that County Executive Laura Curran and Director Rich never acknowledged his receipt. It wasn’t until February 9th, when the legislator sent a follow-up letter threatening to subpoena the information if he did not receive it by March 1st. “These so-called errors have life-changing consequences for people that receive them. People could end up three hours late to work or even be fired from their jobs as a result of receiving erroneous boots on their cars. The county executive and administration seem to have a history of making these types of errors.”
Workout company takes show on road PAGE 7 Young entrepreneurs pitch school board PAGE 3