Police: East Meadow teen falsely reported seeing man with rifle in Massapequa Park
Andrew Denton, 17, of East Meadow, was arrested on Tuesday, April 7, 2015, and charged with calling 911 Monday to falsely report he saw a man with a rifle at Brady Park in Massapequa Park, police said. Credit: NCPD
An East Meadow teen was arrested Tuesday night and charged with calling 911 to report he had seen a man with a rifle -- sending cops on a wild-goose chase through a park in Massapequa, Nassau County police said.
Andrew Denton, 17, of 1495 Sylvan Lane, was charged with third-degree falsely reporting an incident after his arrest at his home at 9:15 p.m.
Police said Denton also was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon after a search revealed he had a gravity knife.
Police said Denton called 911 at 7:41 p.m. Monday to report "there was a man with a rifle walking down the trails" at Brady Park in Massapequa Park.
Police said that, based on the call, Bureau of Special Operations officers and an aviation unit searched the park for about 45 minutes, but could not find the reported suspect.
It was later determined, police said, that Denton had made the call -- and that his claims in that call were false.
Denton was arraigned Wednesday in First District Court in Hempstead and released with certain conditions. He was represented by Legal Aid, which does not comment on cases.
With Ellen Yan
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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