Cops: Man wanted in Mastic Beach killing apprehended in Florida
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison holds a mugshot of Joseph Scalafani last month at a news conference. Scalafani, wanted in connection with a fatal shooting May 20 in Mastic Beach, was taken into custody in Florida on Sunday morning, Suffolk police said. Credit: Barry Sloan
A 32-year-old Mastic Beach man wanted in connection with a fatal shooting last month in the hamlet was apprehended Sunday in Florida, Suffolk County police said in a news release.
Deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff’'s Department took Joseph Scalafani into custody shortly before 7 a.m. near St. Pete Beach, a county park in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to Suffolk police. He will be returned to Suffolk County for arraignment following an extradition hearing, police said.
At a May 26 news conference, Suffolk police identified Scalafani as a suspect in the shooting death of Alex Smith at 2 a.m. on May 20 in a parking lot at 373 Neighborhood Road in Mastic Beach.
Smith, 30, of Mastic was pronounced dead at the scene.
Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.
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