Crime and courts briefs

ISLANDWIDE

Ex-NYC official testifies he took $2.5M in bribes

A former New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development official testified Monday he took $2.5 million in bribes at the trial of a developer and two Long Island lawyers.

One-time assistant commissioner Wendell Walters said he accepted everything from cash in cigar boxes to sweetheart real-estate deals, appliances and expensive trips from a variety of developers and contractors during 13 years at the agency.

Walters said he never kept an exact count of how much he was getting in payoffs. "I didn't really keep a spreadsheet," he said. "It was all in my head. I kept stuffing it in a bag."

Walters, who pleaded guilty in 2012, appeared as a government witness in federal court in Brooklyn at the trial of developer Stevenson Dunn, 52, of Brooklyn, and lawyers Lee Hymowitz, 62, of Oceanside, and Michael Freeman, 66, of Manhasset.

Dunn, a high school friend of Walters, and the two lawyers were partners in SML Development. They were accused in 2012 of being part of an HPD bribery and kickback scheme involving Walters and contractors. The trial began last week. Walters' testimony resumes Tuesday.

— John Riley

FREEPORT

Police: Three attack food deliveryman

Three masked assailants armed with a small wooden bat attacked and then robbed a man delivering food to a building in Freeport late Sunday, police said.

The 39-year-old deliveryman, employed by the Jade Garden Chinese restaurant, suffered "pain and swelling" to his face, but declined medical attention at the scene, Nassau County police said.

The attack occurred in the lobby of 150 Smith St. about 10 p.m. Police said the victim entered the lobby, where he was approached by the suspects.

One of the assailants then drew a small wooden bat and struck the deliveryman in the face, police said

The trio then rifled the man's pockets, took cash and fled.

— John Valenti

Woman with gun robs shoe store, police say

She wanted cash, not the shoes. And, police said, that's just what a woman with a gun got when she robbed a Payless ShoeSource in Freeport on Sunday.

No one was injured in the robbery at the Mill Road store, police said.

It was not immediately clear how much was taken.

Nassau County police said detectives are still looking for the suspect, described as short and in her mid-30s with tattooed eyebrows and straight hair tied in a ponytail.

Police said the woman entered Payless at 5:10 p.m., approached the cashier and presented a yellow sticky note demanding money. The robber was not holding the handgun, police said, but as the cashier complied with the demand she "observed a black handgun" in the suspect's pocketbook.

— John Valenti

NORTH BELLMORE

Drugged driver hit car, then fled, police say

A North Bellmore man was high on heroin last week when he sideswiped another car on the Southern State Parkway, then fled, State Police said Monday.

Steven Santo, 28, is expected back in Nassau County First District Court in Hempstead Tuesday after being arraigned on charges of two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest, assault, aggravated unlicensed operation of motor vehicle and driving while his ability was impaired by drugs.

He was ordered held on $10,000 bond or $5,000 cash bail.

Farmingdale troopers responded about 6:41 p.m. Friday to a call of a hit and run on the eastbound Southern near Newbridge Road in North Bellmore.Troopers said a blue Chrysler sedan sideswiped a Volkswagen and fled, according to a news release.

The Volkswagen’s driver gave troopers the license plate number and a description of the driver of the Chrysler.

After investigating, troopers found the driver of the Chrysler was a friend of the vehicle’s owner, police said. Santo was found at a Westbury car dealership, where he resisted arrest, police said. He also tried to run off before being arrested, police said.

Santo “later admitted to using heroin before the accident,” the news release said. He was in possession of heroin and Xanax pills and also had four outstanding warrants, police said.

— Gary Dymski