LI CRIME BRIEFS

AMAGANSETT/Manslaughter charge filed in motorcycle crash

A Manorville man whose pregnant fiancee died last month in a motorcycle crash in Amagansett is to be arraigned today on upgraded charges, according to online court records.

A Suffolk grand jury has handed up a 10-count indictment charging Matthew Byank, 19, with second-degree manslaughter in the May 24 death of Lauren Parris, 19, of Mastic Beach, according to the website of the state Office of Court Administration.

Byank is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Police said Byank and Parris were thrown from Byank's Suzuki motorcycle when he struck a utility pole while driving west on Montauk Highway near Dolphin Drive. Police said he was driving with a suspended license and fleeing a police officer who suspected he was speeding.

Parris, who relatives said had found out earlier that day she was pregnant, died at Southampton Hospital.

Byank, a student at Suffolk County Community College, suffered a broken collarbone and sprained ankle.

At his arraignment last month in East Hampton Town Court, Byank pleaded not guilty to aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and unlawful fleeing from a police officer, and other traffic violations. He is free on $50,000 bond, the district attorney's office said.

The district attorney's office declined to comment on the indictment yesterday because it is sealed.

Byank's attorney, Tad Scharfenberg of Bohemia, did not return calls for comment.

- CARL MACGOWAN

ROOSEVELT/Police seeking 3 suspects

after man shot, wounded

Nassau County police were searching yesterday for three people accused in the shooting of a man in Roosevelt.

The man was shot Wednesday afternoon and then the three fled in a red Dodge Avenger, police said.

The shooting happened on Prospect Avenue at 3:08 p.m., police said.

Police were alerted through the ShotSpotter system, which pinpoints the sound of gunfire with sensors.

Police said the victim, whose identity has not been released, and three men got into a dispute - and one of them pulled out a handgun and fired, striking the victim in the midsection.

"There was some type of dispute at that location and, following that dispute, we have an unknown subject who fired at least five shots in the vicinity of the victim," said Det. Lt. Stephen Palmer of the First Squad detectives.

The reason for the dispute was unknown yesterday, Palmer said, adding that police have not been able to interview the victim and are searching for witnesses.

A friend of the victim took him to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, where he was listed in serious but stable condition.

- ZACHARY R. DOWDY

SOUTH FLORAL PARK/2 men in car return to rob

pedestrian at gunpoint

Two men in a car who stopped a passerby to ask directions came back moments later and robbed him at gunpoint this week on a street in South Floral Park, Nassau County police said.

Police said the incident occurred Wednesday at 6 p.m. on Emma Street near Roquette Avenue.

The victim, who was walking on Emma Street, told police he was approached by the men in a black Nissan Altima with tinted windows.

The passenger asked him for directions to an address on Roquette, police said. The victim answered - and the Altima drove off. But a short time later, police said, the two men in the car approached the unidentified victim on foot. One pulled out a handgun and, after rifling his pockets, the duo robbed him of a cell phone and iPod Touch, police said.

- JOHN VALENTI