Cops: Man threatened 'mass harm' at Jake's 58 in Islandia
Police said a Wheatley Heights man allegedly wrote a comment on a travel website on July 30 threatening to bring a gun to Jake’s 58 Casino Hotel in Islandia with the intent of harming the staff. Credit: James Carbone
A Wheatley Heights man was arrested and charged Saturday for allegedly threatening what the Suffolk County Police Department called "mass harm" at Jake’s 58 Casino Hotel in Islandia.
A police news release said that 28-year-old Joshua Hurt allegedly wrote a comment July 30 on a travel website threatening to bring a gun to the casino with the intent of harming the staff. Hurt was arrested Saturday on Straight Path in Dix Hills and charged with making a threat of mass harm, a misdemeanor. He was scheduled to be arraigned Sunday at First District Court in Central Islip but details weren't available online as of Sunday evening.
Brian Finnegan, an outside spokesman for the casino, declined to describe the nature of the threat or where it was posted. Police also declined to provide details and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office didn’t return an emailed inquiry.
In a statement forwarded by Finnegan, Anthony Pancella, the chief executive of Suffolk County Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., said the casino reported the threat last week and “Jake’s 58 security personnel is taking extra precautionary measures to ensure the safety and well-being of all guests and staff.”
Jake's 58, which opened in February 2017 and was bought in 2021 by the Suffolk betting corporation for $120 million, is a 228-room hotel and video-lottery gambling parlor located in the former Islandia Marriott Long Island hotel.
According to the casino website, the building features "two floors of electrifying gaming action and all the pulse-pounding games you love!"
Among the 1,000 offerings: Wheel of Fortune, Quick Hits, Lock It Link and 88 Fortunes, plus blackjack, craps, baccarat, roulette, let it ride and three-card poker.
