Massapequa Park dentist's lawsuit alleges Nassau police illegally took his firearms

The Nassau County Police Department violated the constitutional rights of a Massapequa Park dentist when officers entered his home and confiscated firearms and ammunition without a warrant, according to a federal lawsuit. 

Paul Carey, 66, is suing Nassau County, its police department and multiple officers, more than four years after a “military-style” raid of his Riviera Drive East home damaged his property, his reputation and his emotional well being, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in federal court in Central Islip. The suit argues  officers — who were not “adequately” trained — breached his home while he was alone and posed no danger to anyone, arrested and imprisoned him without probable cause and confiscated his legally-owned property.

Following Carey's arrest, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder held a news conference in which he “slandered” him  by calling his 20 or so “legal” weapons “ghost guns,” according to the suit. At that news conference, Ryder told Newsday and other outlets the department confiscated 30 guns, including 18 untraceable “ghost guns” that lack a serial number, in total and 3,000 rounds of ammunition.

“My client was a lawful gun owner,” Carey’s attorney, David Gray, told Newsday in a telephone interview. The "long guns" in his possession did not require a permit, he added.

When asked about Carey’s alleged “ghost guns,” Gray noted that while his client had “parts” that were confiscated, “you don’t have a gun if you have parts that haven’t been assembled yet.”

On Feb. 16, 2022, Nassau police responded to a 911 call from the sole employee of Carey’s dental practice in the first-floor of his home. She reported that he had repeatedly yelled her name and then confronted her with a firearm, Newsday previously reported. 

Carey, who was upstairs, mistook her for a possible intruder, according to the complaint. Upon seeing her, he joked, "I could have shot you."

Without a warrant, officers broke down Carey’s door and confiscated his guns and ammunition before they obtained permission to enter from his wife who did not reside in the home. He was arrested and charged with 73 counts of criminal possession of a weapon or firearm.

Last April, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office was forced to drop all charges against Carey after State Supreme Court Justice Robert Schwartz determined police should have waited for a warrant before entering Carey’s home, Newsday reported at the time.

“That says it all,” Gray told Newsday. “They had no right to do what they did.”

The Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, he added, “is an incredibly important constitutional protection against police overreach.”

In the suit, Carey argued the county “failed to adequately train its officers with respect to the constitutional requirements governing warrantless entry into and search of a private home, the standard for probable cause to arrest, the scope of permissible property seizure, and the proportionate use of force.”

Det. Tracey Cabey, a Nassau police spokesperson, told Newsday the department does not comment on pending litigation.

Chris Boyle, a spokesperson for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.