Ex-Nassau pol, state Senate candidate Mejias arrested

David Mejias, the former Nassau County lawmaker vying to become a state senator, was arrested Wednesday evening and was being detained overnight, Nassau police said.

Police department spokeswoman Officer Adele Burke said the criminal charges against Mejias were pending late Wednesday night because detectives were still conducting an investigation into the case.

Burke said that Mejias was in custody at the Woodbury-based Second Precinct.

Mejias campaign spokesman Akeem Henry did not immediately return a phone call Wednesday night. But he sent an e-mail message to reporters canceling a scheduled news conference at which Mejias was to receive several endorsements.

Nassau County and state Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs declined to comment on the arrest, as did a spokeswoman for state Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City), the incumbent in the seat for which Mejias is vying.

A spokeswoman for Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said prosecutors have yet to receive the case paperwork.

Mejias, a Democrat, is a Farmingdale family law attorney who in 2003 became the first Latino to serve in the Nassau County Legislature. He was in office six years and lost last year in a tight race to Republican Joseph V. Belesi. In 2006, Mejias ran an unsuccessful congressional challenge to Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford).

The Democrat Party designate, Mejias has promised if elected to reform ethics rules and increase Long Island's share of state funding. He's facing Plainview businesswoman Francesca Carlow in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary for the 6th Senate District.