Police: Huntington Station man stalked teen walking to bus stop

A Huntington Station man was arrested on stalking charges after he handed a note to a 13-year-old girl after a month of attempting to communicate with her as she walked to her bus stop not far from his home, Suffolk County police said.

Celso Garcia Mendez, 25, of Sixth Avenue, faces arraignment Friday in First District Court in Central Islip, charged with endangering the welfare of a child and fourth-degree stalking.

Police said Garcia Mendez approached the teen Thursday as she walked to her bus stop on Sixth Avenue at about 7:30 a.m., handing her a note. He then left the scene in a silver Chrysler sedan, police said.

Garcia Mendez was arrested after a canvas of the area, police said. Second Precinct Crime Section officers determined he had previously “approached and attempted to communicate with the teen” during the course of a month — although she’d asked him to stop, police said.

Additional details were not immediately available.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”