Cops: Sneaker store owner lied about Sandy burglary

The owner of a sneaker store lied to get Sandy insurance reimbursements when he claimed that more than $60,000 in merchandise was stolen during the superstorm, Suffolk police said.

Wilguens Mentor, 28, of Wyandanch, told officers that Fly Forever Sneakers in Wheatley Heights was burglarized during the height of the storm, and he filed a police report Oct. 31, two days after Sandy started hitting Long Island, police said.

But after an investigation, First Precinct detectives concluded that nothing was taken and that the burglary never happened, police said.

Mentor lied to get a police report so he could submit a false claim with his insurance company, police said.

Mentor, of 55 Lake Drive, is expected to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Wednesday on charges of second-degree attempted insurance fraud and third-degree falsely reporting an incident.