Ronkonkoma man arrested in connection with robbery, cops say
A Ronkonkoma man was arrested Thursday, the third man charged in connection with the robbery earlier this month of a man in Lake Grove that they met at a bar, police said.
Dominic Dentici, 23, of Ronkonkoma, was charged with second-degree robbery and faces arraignment in First District Court in Central Islip on Friday.
Police earlier this week arrested two other men — Jason Mikalauskas, 36, of Lake Grove, and Michael Masterson, 21, of Centereach — charging both with second-degree robbery, as well. Mikalauskas also was charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and police said he had an active warrant at the time of his arrest on Monday.
Police said the trio befriended the victim May 6 at J.W.’s Bar on Hawkins Avenue in Lake Ronkonkoma, offering him a ride home at 3:45 a.m. During that ride, police said, the trio “punched and choked the victim,” then stole his wallet, jewelry, cellphone and cash — before throwing him from the moving vehicle on Hawkins Avenue in Lake Grove.
The victim was transported by Ronkonkoma Rescue to Stony Brook University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
It was not immediately clear how police linked the three men to the crime.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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