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Friday, May 25, 2018
Vol. 78, No. 21
Town: Squatters removed from Bethpage home
ACTS OF KINDNESS
Northside Elementary School’s Peer Leadership Club recently brought awareness to the kind actions that can be done each day through Random Acts of Kindness Week. At the conclusion of the week, teachers in each classroom selected a Kindness Leader from their class, and those students received certificates for their notable acts of kindness. Photo courtesy of the Levittown Public Schools
Hicksville motel murderer sentenced Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a man from Ridge has been sentenced to 23 years to life in prison for the November 2016 death of an East Meadow man inside a Hicksville motel room. Vincent Dalton, 52, pled guilty on January 31 before Acting Supreme Court Justice Teresa Corrigan to Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony). “This defendant demonstrated a disturbing disregard for human life when he bludgeoned another man to death over a debit card,” DA Singas said. DA Singas said on Novem-
ber 19, 2016 at 1:00 p.m., the victim, 39-year-old Erik O’Connell, was found hogtied on the floor of a room inside the Econo Lodge in Hicksville by motel staff. When police arrived at the scene it was determined he died from blunt force trauma to the head. A weapon was never recovered. Following an investigation, members of the Nassau County Police Department arrested the defendant, Vincent Dalton on November 23, 2016. Surveillance video from November 19 showed the victim and defendant walking into and out of The Headliner Bar in Hicksville
together, approximately half a mile from the motel. Additional surveillance video then showed the defendant and victim walking into the motel room together at 11:45 p.m. on November 18, and the defendant leaving by himself at approximately 3:00 a.m. on November 19 with a computer, debit card, credit card, and other items believed to belong to the victim. The following morning, the defendant also attempted to use the victim’s credit cards at a McDonald’s and a nearby deli in Brentwood.
The Town of Oyster Bay’s Quality of Life Task Force – with assistance from the Town’s Code Enforcement Bureau – recently vacated squatters and illegal renters from a home on South Windhorst Drive in Bethpage, following complaints about a potentially dangerous situation. After receiving neighborhood complaints regarding the South Windhorst Drive home, Town Code Enforcement Officers say they discovered squatters, an illegal tenant situation, and deplorable living conditions. A tenant vacating the home cooperated with the investigation, providing Code Enforcement Officers access to the home which revealed frayed and exposed wiring, exposed and leaking pipes, holes in the roof, and other dangerous circumstances. An order to vacate was issued by the officers. Town Councilman Louis Imbroto said, “The Quality of Life Task Force has achieved many successes in addressing issues facing our communities, including the removal of squatters and demolition of dangerous vacant homes. Our Town Board has approved comprehensive laws to combat zombie homes, requiring banks that have commenced foreclosure actions on a property to deposit $25,000 into a maintenance escrow account, and have banned the use of plywood on home doors and windows. We will continue to tackle any and all quality of life concerns that plaque our residents and communities.” “Absentee and neglectful landlord scenarios often create potentially dangerous situations,” said Town Clerk James Altadonna Jr. “Our Town Quality of Life Task Force is ridding communities of blight and working diligently to protect and preserve the suburban character of our communities. ” The Oyster Bay Town Quality of Life Task Force – chaired by Councilman Imbroto and Clerk Altadonna Jr. – is charged with combatting vacant and dilapidated homes, as well as focus on code enforcement concerns such as illegal housing, zombie homes, illegal business signs, noise, and unlicensed and uninsured contractors and landscapers.
Gardiners Ave. students “figure” it out PAGE 6 Resident forced to remove gnome home PAGE 3