Long Island crime briefs

WEST BABYLON / Man gets 35-to-life for 2008 fatal stabbing

A West Babylon man was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison for the stabbing death of a Brooklyn man and the gang assault of that man's girlfriend outside an Elmhurst, Queens, nightclub in 2008.

John Lundi, 26, of Straight Path, was sentenced in Queens Supreme Court after his conviction last month on second-degree murder, first- and second-degree gang assault, second-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence.

Three of Lundi's friends, all West Babylon residents, had previously pleaded guilty to charges related to the incident.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said Tuesday in a prepared statement, "The crimes of which the defendant has been convicted were senseless and vicious and perpetrated by an individual who chose a weapon over words."

Brown said the trial testimony indicated that as Christopher Cotto, 22, of Brooklyn, and his girlfriend, Tiffany Lebron, left the Krystal Club on Queens Boulevard on Nov. 27, 2008, Lundi made remarks about her.

Cotto came to her defense and, during a fight in which several of Lundi's friends joined in, Lundi stabbed Cotto, who died from his injuries, Brown said.

Adam and Alex Hawrylkiewicz, both 22, of Ecker Avenue, West Babylon, pleaded guilty in August to second-degree gang assault, punishable by up to 15 years in prison; and Sarah Kurman, 22, of 18th Street, West Babylon, pleaded guilty in 2009 to second-degree gang assault, punishable by up to 7 years in prison.

They are awaiting sentencing.

-- BILL MASON

LAKE RONKONKOMA / Man survives after getting pinned under car while changing a tire

A man changing a flat tire on his van was lucky to be alive Tuesday after his jack moved and the vehicle fell on him.

Suffolk County police said Robert Powers, 51, of Lake Ronkonkoma, was pinned under his Ford van when it slid off the jack as he was changing a tire in the CVS parking lot on Main Street in Holbrook at 12:25 a.m.

Despite being pinned at the chest, Powers somehow was able to call 911, police said.

Responding Sixth Precinct officers Matthew Siesto, Michael Saletel and Francesco Saracino, who couldn't pull Powers from under the vehicle, got a hydraulic jack, lifted the vehicle and freed the man.

Powers was taken to Stony Brook University Medical Center in a Ronkonkoma Rescue ambulance.

Police said Powers suffered "non-life-threatening injuries."

-- JOHN VALENTI