LONG ISLAND CRIME BRIEFS

PATCHOGUE

Bellport woman accused

in hit-run that injured man

A Bellport woman was arrested yesterday, charged with a hit-and-run crash that left a pedestrian critically injured in May in Patchogue.

Suffolk County police said Vehicular Crime Unit detectives arrested Sally Cestaro, 40, charging her with leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and with second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

She was arraigned yesterday in First District Court in Central Islip and held pending the posting of a bail of $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond. Her attorney, Craig Fleischer in Hauppauge, could not be reached for comment.

Police said Cestaro was the driver who struck Walter Orlando Matute Penaranda, 24, of Patchogue, as he attempted to cross Montauk Highway east of Bay Avenue at 4:20 a.m. on May 4. Penaranda was critically injured in the accident.

Police said Penaranda has since been released from Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center and is recovering at home.

HICKSVILLE

Police: Man posed as doctor

to get Xanax, oxycodone

A Hicksville man who posed as a doctor calling local pharmacies, attempting to request "fraudulent prescriptions" for Xanax and oxycodone, has been arrested, Nassau County police said.

Adeel Riaz, 28, of 51 Lenox Ave., faces 16 counts of first-degree falsifying business records, 15 counts of second-degree identity theft and nine counts of first-degree criminal impersonation.

Police said that between December 2013 and January, Riaz called "multiple pharmacies" pretending to be a licensed physician so that he could request the fake prescriptions.

Riaz was able to obtain prescription narcotics during the transactions, police said.

Police did not reveal the amount of drugs obtained.

Riaz was arrested at his home at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, taken into custody without incident, police said.

He was arraigned yesterday in First District Court in Hempstead and held on a $10,500 bail.

He was represented by Legal Aid, which does not comment on cases.

DEER PARK

Auto shop owner charged

with failing to pay sales tax

A Deer Park auto shop owner faces a grand larceny charge after failing to pay more than $180,000 in state sales tax, officials said.

Dean Marchese, 52, principal owner of Deer Park Auto Body Corp., formerly Deer Park Collision Inc., was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of fourth-degree grand larceny, the state Department of Taxation and Finance said yesterday in a news release.

Marchese, of 136 Barnman St., West Babylon, is accused of underreporting $2.1 million of auto shop sales from 2009 through 2012, officials said. As a result, he owes the state $182,888 in sales tax, officials said.

He was released on his own recognizance and is scheduled for arraignment June 17 in First District Court in Central Islip.

His attorney, Joseph Milano in Jericho, said it would be inappropriate to discuss the case at this time.