LI CRIME BRIEFS

NASSAU/Man allegedly posed as cop to get pain meds

A Riverhead man falsely identified himself as a police officer to emergency room personnel on four separate occasions so he could get pain medication, Nassau County police said.

John Calabrese, 42, of Willow Pond Drive, faces criminal impersonation charges after presenting himself as a police officer to the emergency department at Nassau University Medical Center three times between January and June 1 and once at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, police said.

Each time he would complain of varying degrees of pain, a police report said.

On Tuesday at about 9:24 a.m., a supervisor at Nassau University Medical Center's emergency department recognized Calabrese from previous visits and pointed him out to a police officer who was at the hospital on an unrelated matter, police said.

He was successful at least a couple of times in getting prescriptions, Det. Lt. Ray Cote of the Third Squad said.

He is charged with four counts of criminal impersonation..- GARY DYMSKI.

PATCHOGUE/Teen charged in robbery of 79-year-old man

A teen has been charged with robbing a 79-year-old man of $200 in Patchogue, Suffolk County police said yesterday.

The man was walking on North Ocean Avenue, between Lake and Oak streets, at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday when Wesley Thorne, 19, confronted him, police said. Thorne stole the $200 and then fled on foot, police said. About 15 minutes after the incident, Police Officer John Falcone of the Fifth Precinct found Thorne and arrested him on Main Street in Patchogue.

Thorne is charged with grand larceny.

- GARY DYMSKI.

EAST MEADOW/Roads closed after suspicious object found outside Aquatic Center

Several East Meadow area roadways were closed for more than a hour Wednesday evening as police examined a suspicious object outside the Nassau County Aquatic Center that turned out to be an inert hand grenade, officials said.

The 911 report of the object on Merrick Avenue came in to authorities from a passerby about 5:55 p.m., police said, and immediately prompted the closing of Merrick Avenue between Old Country Road and Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow, as well as the Meadowbrook Parkway northbound ramp on to Charles Lindbergh Boulevard.

The object was removed by the Nassau Arson/Bomb squad, and the roadways were reopened about 7:15 p.m.

Several hours later, Nassau police put out a release that the object was an inert hand grenade, but offered no additional information.

- Bill Mason