LI CRIME BRIEFS

HEMPSTEAD/Suspect in gang-stabbing fatality arrested in Texas

A Valley Stream man was arrested yesterday in Texas in connection with the fatal stabbing of a Westbury man in Hempstead on Dec. 23, police said.

Otoniel A. Castillo, 28, of Rockaway Parkway, was charged with first-degree gang assault in connection with the death of Plutaco Galindo, 23.

John Nazario Mazariego, 27, of Roosevelt, was charged with second-degree murder and Angel R. Vasquez, 18, of Roosevelt, was charged with first-degree gang assault earlier this month.

Galindo and several other men were attacked outside the El Pacifico Bar on Franklin Street in Hempstead after they were mistakenly believed to be members of a rival gang, police said.

Those charged were MS-13 gang members, Nassau police said.

Castillo, who was arrested in El Paso, is being extradited to Nassau County, police said, and is scheduled for arraignment in First District Court today.

- Bill Mason

RIVERHEAD / Prosecutors: Man shot at, stabbed ex-girlfriend

A Springs man pleaded not guilty Thursday in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead to charges he attacked his estranged girlfriend with an air gun and a kitchen knife.

Prosecutors said Sabas Martinez, 39, shot Naomi Sanchez once in the head with the rifle and stabbed her several times during a Feb. 13 confrontation at her home in Springs. Sanchez survived the attack, which occurred when her two daughters were in the house, prosecutors said.

Martinez cut himself before he was arrested by East Hampton police, authorities said.

He pleaded not guilty Thursday to an indictment charging him with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree assault and two counts each of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of minor.

State Supreme Court Justice William Condon ordered Martinez held without bail. - Carl MacGowan

NORTH WOODMERE / Cops: Man shot during attempted robbery

A man was shot during an attempted robbery while he was standing on a North Woodmere residential street, Nassau police said.

The 39-year-old victim was taken by helicopter to an unnamed hospital where he was in stable condition, police said Thursday.

Around 8:13 p.m. Wednesday, the victim was on Flanders Drive when a dark-colored four-door car with an unknown number of men inside pulled up next to him, police said.

One man got out of the car and approached the victim, demanding his property, police said. The man then shot the victim multiple times, according to police, and the car drove off westbound on Flanders without taking anything.

Detectives ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 800-244-TIPS. Callers may remain anonymous.

- Sophia Chang

BALDWIN / Police say man punched, choked his girlfriend

A drunken Baldwin man fighting with his girlfriend put a garbage bag over her head and tried to choke her to death, Nassau County police said in announcing the man's arrest on an attempted murder charge.

Their argument got physical Wednesday night when the man, David Knudson, 41, of 2882 Dahlia Ave., "repeatedly punched" his 32-year-old girlfriend in the head and face and then suffocated her with the bag, police said.

Amid the struggle, the girlfriend freed herself and fled upstairs to the landlord's quarters for help. The girlfriend suffered serious injuries and went to the hospital. An update on her condition wasn't immediately available last night.

Knudson, who also put up a fight as cops tried to arrest him, was supposed to be arraigned Thursday at First District Court in Hempstead on charges including assault, resisting arrest and criminal possession of a weapon. But before he could see the judge, police had to take him to the hospital for an undisclosed medical condition. The clerk rescheduled the arraignment for Friday.

- Matthew Chayes