LI CRIME BRIEFS

EAST NORTHPORT/Fisherman's drowning ruled an accident

The drowning of an East Northport fisherman whose body was recovered Monday from a New Jersey reservoir was accidental, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

The body of Kenneth Rohatyn, 56, was found in the Round Valley Reservoir in Clinton Township at 6:50 p.m. Monday after he fell out of a canoe, authorities said.

Sgt. Adam Grossman of the New Jersey State Police said that an autopsy indicates the cause of death was asphyxiation due to drowning. He said the accidental death remains under investigation.

State Police, including an aviation unit and marine service boats, responded to an emergency call about a boat capsizing at about 11:45 a.m. Monday.

Originally, police were told two people could have gone into the water when the canoe capsized, but further investigation revealed that Rohatyn was fishing alone, Grossman said.

-- Gary Dymski

OCEANSIDE/Employee at nonprofit arrested for benefits fraud

An Oceanside man stole more than $18,000 in unemployment benefits by hiding a job with a nonprofit that paid him more than $90,000 a year, Nassau County prosecutors said Tuesday.

Joseph Antonacci, 47, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of third-degree grand larceny and faces up to 7 years in prison if convicted, authorities said.

At arraignment Tuesday, Antonacci's bail was set at $10,000 cash or bond. He is due back in court May 13.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said Antonacci received New York unemployment benefits of $405 weekly from March 2010 to June 2011 and also got a weekly supplement of $25 from the federal government from March 2010 to December 2010.

In the meantime, he had taken a position as a facilities director for the nonprofit Educational Alliance in Manhattan, where he was paid a salary of $3,653 every two weeks, authorities said.

Rice said Antonacci never reported his new job to the state Department of Labor, as required, "and continued to fraudulently receive unemployment insurance benefit payments totaling approximately $18,370," according to a news release.

-- Gary Dymski and Ellen Yan

SOUTHAMPTON/Grand larceny charges for burglary suspect

A Hampton Bays man who eluded police last week by jumping from a stolen car in Southampton faces a charge of grand larceny, Southampton Town police said Monday.

Carlos Garcia, 21, was arrested Monday on charges of third-degree grand larceny, a felony, and also faces a felony burglary charge stemming from another case, police said.

His arraignment information was not immediately available.

The burglary charge "stems from a long investigation into the theft of a cellphone from the AT&T Store on Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays, which occurred in August 2012," police said in a news release.

-- Gary Dymski and John Valenti