CRIME BRIEFS

MASSAPEQUA PARKAssault suspect

arrested in woodsA search team that included a police dog caught and arrested a man in a wooded area of Massapequa Park late Tuesday after what is being investigated as an assault near the Long Island Rail Road station there, police said.

No charges have been filed and the suspect's identity was not released. Nassau police said the incident occurred about 11:15 p.m. near the Massapequa Park train station and said the man fled into Brady Park on Lake Shore Drive.

WoodburyCops: Jericho man tried to use forged prescriptionA Jericho man was arrested Tuesday after he tried to use a forged prescription to obtain pain relievers from a pharmacy in Woodbury in May, police said yesterday.

Melvin Pagan, 30, of Dawson Lane, surrendered to Nassau County police at the Second Precinct and was charged with 12 counts of second-degree possession of a forged instrument, police said. He was to be arraigned Wednesday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Police said Pagan entered the Walgreens pharmacy on South Oyster Bay Road on May 22 and attempted to pass a forged prescription for Vicodin. But, police said, the pharmacist identified the fake prescription and notified authorities -- then checked the pharmacy database and discovered other fraudulent prescriptions for the drug that had been filled for Pagan.

---- John Valenti

hempsteadPolice: Gang members

charged in July stabbing

Eight members of a street gang were arrested over the past several weeks and charged with the July stabbing of a man at a Hempstead restaurant, police said yesterday.

Limited details were available concerning the stabbing of the 23-year-old Brentwood man July 10 at Kennedy Fried Chicken, 692 Fulton Ave. The unnamed victim was admitted to a hospital in the early morning hours with several stab wounds, Nassau police said. He was recently released from a hospital, police said.

The suspects, who police said are members of the 18th Street-Salvadorians With Pride, were charged with first-degree assault and first-degree gang assault for that incident. They are: Wilmer Sandoval, 18, of Jackson Avenue; Renaldos Mejia, 18, of Terrace Avenue; Jose Zavala, 20, and Elwin Zavala, 16, both of Terrace Avenue; Jose Maldonado, 20, of Fulton Avenue; and Richard Cruz, 16, of Elk Street; Michael Gondo, 18, of Plymouth Court; and an unnamed male juvenile.

Kennedy Fried Chicken on Fulton Avenue was the site of the 2009 fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Erick Avalos of Hempstead. Arrests were made in that case earlier this year by authorities who said the killing was associated with MS-13 gang activities. -- BILL MASON