Cops: 1 dead after man shoots at intruders

Three intruders who apparently targeted a private home in East Islip early Wednesday were met by shotgun blasts from a man who lived in the house, leaving one intruder dead and another badly wounded, police said.

The third man fled and was arrested several blocks away, police said.

Some people in the house on East Adams Street tried to block the rear door of the ground-floor apartment when the trio broke in about 12:19 a.m., according to Det. Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky of the Homicide Squad.

One man in the house opened fire with a shotgun after one of the intruders shot his pit bull twice with a rifle, police said. The dog was expected to live.

"They were totally taken aback by this whole thing," Pelkofsky said of the occupants. He declined to say what had been found in the house, or what the motivation was for the home invasion. Police said the shotgun used by the resident was legal.

Neither the dead man nor the resident with the shotgun was identified.

The wounded man, Justin Benkov, 25, of Mastic, was in the intensive-care unit at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore. Police said he had an outstanding warrant for criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, and that further charges were likely.

The man who fled and was captured about a mile away was identified as Philipe Robinette, 27, of Aquebogue. He was charged with first-degree burglary and was to be arraigned Thursday in First District Court in Central Islip.

The home on the quiet side street just south of Sunrise Highway was unexceptional, neighbors said.

"People come and go," neighbor David McKellar, 66, said. "There was nothing that set it apart. . . . Never saw the police here or anything like that."

Police said the shooting was in a ground-floor apartment in the home. The house also has an apartment in the basement and one on the second floor, police said.

Police said two women and one man were in the house at the time of the break-in. It wasn't clear which apartment they were in. Another woman was outside.

A neighbor who did not want to give her name said she called 911 between midnight and 12:30 a.m. when she saw suspicious people in the area.

With Gary Dymski

and William Murphy