F. Hill OKs some offenses to amass daily

Violations previously accrued weekly, changed to deter perpetual offenders

BY CAMERYN OAKES

The Flower Hill Board of Trustees voted to amend their policy on continuing violations in the village, changing the continuation of offenses from accruing violations weekly to now daily at their meeting Monday night.

Mayor Randall Rosenbaum said there have been recent instances in the village where people have been taking advantage of weekly fines, so bolstering them to a daily violation will hopefully deter the continued behavior.

The law does not concern all violations, but certain ones like issues involving individuals parking cars on lawns or accruing debris on front yards.

Inspector Mark Vitelli from the Nassau County Police Department provided a presentation at the meeting about crime concerns in the village.

Crimes in the village during June included a car stolen, various cars broken into and a break-in at Trustee Mary Jo Collins’ home.

Collins said she had come home from a bike ride when she saw an unknown car parked in her driveway. When she approached the car, which had Florida license plates, the car then drove away. She then immediately called the police who arrived within minutes and conducted an investiga- tion.

Collins said two individuals had broken into her home around noon using a crowbar and had gone through her belongings, but nothing was stolen.

She said they had not taken anything from her home because she had interrupted them. Collins came home approximately eight minutes after they had arrived, according to her neighbor’s camera, which had caught the time the two people arrived at her house.

Vitelli said since April, there have only been four instances of grand larceny. Three of the offenses were scams or identity theft, and one was a stolen debit card. Two cars were stolen in the village in that same time frame, and both were recovered.

He said the best way for residents to prevent their cars from being stolen is not to leave the key fob in the vehicle.

While Vitelli said he is not blaming individuals for their cars being stolen due to a key fob left in the vehicle, he said residents should be taking precautions to ensure such crimes do not occur.

“There are things we can do to make ourselves safer,” Vitelli said.

He said the biggest concern in the village is the safety of its residents, while providing various tips to resi-

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