LONG ISLAND BRIEFS
Bail set for suspect accused
of running cocaine ring
Bail was set at $1.5 million cash or $3 million bond Friday for one of the four men charged with running a major cocaine ring that smuggled drugs into Suffolk County from California.
Judge Mark D. Cohen set the bail in Suffolk Criminal Court in Riverhead at the arraignment of Richard Occhino, 46, of North Babylon, on an indictment charging him with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, a felony punishable by 20 years in prison.
Assistant District Attorney Jake Kubetz told the court that Occhino provided protection for the smugglers -- Jose Tejada, 33, of West Babylon, and Theodore Katsanos, 29, of Bay Shore -- and their ringleader, Robert Perticone, 30, of North Babylon.
Kubetz also said that Occhino had an extensive criminal history that included a conviction in 2002 for enterprise corruption that got him 1 to 3 years in prison.
An attorney for Occhino said his client was never physically involved in any of the alleged drug and money transactions, and that Occhino was having marital troubles so he was staying at Perticone's North Babylon residence.
Occhino is due back in court on Sept. 19.
Cops: Woman reported
fake crimes to 911
Police said a woman made calls to police about a homicide at a bar in Westbury, but they turned out not to be true.
Nor did previous 911 calls about an assault, kidnapping or sexual assault, Nassau County police said.
Elizabeth Buckley, 43, of Prince Lane, Westbury, is under arrest, charged with four counts of third-degree falsely reporting an incident and four counts of second-degree reckless endangerment. She was arrested at her home Friday, police said.
They said that between June 8 and July 25, Buckley reported the incidents from her cellphone, and said she had identified herself before the last call, when she reported a homicide in progress at Nawton's Bar and Grill on Carman Avenue.
Police said the bar owner responded to the scene with a key and "assisted police in determining this to be a falsely reported incident."
Buckley was scheduled for arraignment Friday in First District Court in Hempstead.
No injuries at home
destroyed by electrical fire
An electrical fire that started in an attic caused extensive damage to a home in North Bellmore, Nassau County fire officials said.
The fire at the split-level home on Bellmore Road was reported at 9:07 p.m. Thursday. More than 100 firefighters from five Nassau departments were at the scene for more than three hours.
Four people managed to evacuate the home. No one was injured. Fire officials said firefighters from North Bellmore, Bellmore, Wantagh, Levittown and East Meadow fought the fire.
Preliminary indications were the cause of the fire was electrical and began in the attic.
'It's depressing, it's frustrating' A Newsday investigation revealed that Grumman Aerospace knew toxic chemicals were leaking into the ground in Bethpage. Newsday Associate Editor Paul LaRocco and Deputy Editor David Schwartz explain.
'It's depressing, it's frustrating' A Newsday investigation revealed that Grumman Aerospace knew toxic chemicals were leaking into the ground in Bethpage. Newsday Associate Editor Paul LaRocco and Deputy Editor David Schwartz explain.
