Cops: Nearly 15,000 lbs of fireworks seized; Shirley man charged

Investigators seized about 15,000 pounds of fireworks from a Medford storage facility Wednesday and charged a Shirley man for illegally storing them, Suffolk County police said.

Armed with a search warrant, Sixth Precinct detectives and the Brookhaven Town fire marshal found 380 boxes of fireworks at the Medford Mini Storage on Long Island Avenue, police said.

The fireworks, valued at about $100,000, had the potential to cause a powerful explosion, police said. It took two trucks to haul them off, police said.

Anthony Benevento, 36, of Lucerne Avenue, was charged with illegal storage of explosives, a felony, and with unlawfully dealing with fireworks and dangerous fireworks, a misdemeanor. He was held overnight for arraignment Thursday.