Suffolk Crime Stoppers seeks public's help with unsolved cases

Suffolk police and Suffolk County Crime Stoppers will highlight several unsolved cases on the department’s social media pages to mark National Crime Victims' Rights Week, which began Sunday.

Crime Stoppers is offering $1,000 fast-cash awards for information leading to an arrest in each of the cases highlighted through Saturday. The rewards will be issued within 72 hours of an arrest. 

“The Crime Stoppers partnership is essential to the Suffolk County Police Department, allowing individuals, who may be reluctant to speak to police, to stay anonymous while providing critical information about criminal cases,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison said. “We hope by highlighting these unsolved cases, someone comes forward with details that will bring justice to these victims and their families.” 

Joseph Giacalone, a former NYPD detective sergeant and a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said Crime Stoppers is an effective tool that gets the public involved in police work and helps build bridges with communities. 

“In my experience, a lot of people don’t even want the reward, they just want to do their civic duty,” said Giacalone, who was the commanding officer of NYPD Crime Stoppers shortly before his retirement. “It works. It is effective.”

Giacalone said police can make Crime Stoppers even more effective by hanging posters and distributing fliers that describe suspects and their crimes. Doing so, he said, will not only encourage people to come forward with tips but will also show residents that police are eager to solve cold cases.

“Go to the community where the crimes happened, that is where the information about the crime will be,” he said. 

Suffolk police said more than $687,000 has been rewarded to tipsters who have reported information anonymously since Suffolk Crime Stoppers was created in 1994. More than 2,800 arrests have been made as a result of Crime Stoppers tips. 

The suspects and cases Suffolk police will highlight for National Crime Victims' Rights Week include:

• Colin Jerrick is wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of Ajala Carpenter-Toney during a Wyandanch party on June 13, 2020. He is also wanted in connection with the murder of Elbert Wright in North Amityville on July 31, 2020. 
• Marco Castro, 32, of Patchogue, was walking on North Ocean Avenue, just south of Roe Boulevard, when he was struck by a motor vehicle that did not stop on Feb. 21, 2021 at about 3:55 a.m. 
• Elvis Galvez Menjivar, 27, of Bay Shore, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on eastbound Sunrise Highway in Bay Shore on April 17, 2021. The vehicle is described as a dark-colored SUV, possibly an Acura.
• A Commack man was stabbed at his home on Feb. 2 following a dispute with a former co-worker, known only to the victim as Luis. The victim spent more than a month in the hospital recovering. Luis is described as being about 35 years old, approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall with a medium build and brown hair. The suspect was last seen fleeing the residence in a gray Nissan Xterra with New Jersey plates. Luis has family in New Jersey, police said.
• Jaifield Gordon was found shot inside a 2013 BMW after the vehicle had crashed into a parked vehicle and fence in front of 55 Beach Drive in Coram on Sept. 1, 2019. The shooting had occurred on Judith Drive a short time before the crash. Gordon, 18, of Medford, was pronounced dead at a hospital. 

Anyone with information on a crime is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.