Two charged in the shooting of former boxing champ

Two men were behind bars Wednesday in the North Bellport shooting two weeks ago of former amateur boxing champ Adam Willett, police said.

Darryl Austin, 18, of East Patchogue, and Rasalaam Jackson, 20, of Bay Shore, were involved in an argument with Willett on April 7 in a shopping center parking lot just before he was shot once in the chest, according to Suffolk police.

Police said they were called Tuesday to an area near a Michigan Avenue home in North Bellport after a report of a threat being made. Austin was spotted going into a home where officers found a loaded AK-47-style assault rifle, said Det. Lt. Edward Reilly of the Fifth Squad. A search warrant later turned up "a significant amount" of crack, he said.

Austin, along with Robert Taylor, 43, and Frances Prestano, 43, were charged with criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance. Austin was also charged with menacing for allegedly putting a gun to the head of a man during an argument. Austin was being questioned by detectives when he implicated himself and Jackson in the Willett shooting, police said. Jackson, who knows Austin, was arrested several hours later when he came to the precinct to ask about Austin's arrest.

Austin and Jackson were charged with first-degree assault in the attack.

Willett, 28, grew up in North Bellport and is a four-time U.S. amateur heavyweight champ and was an alternate on the U.S. Olympic Team at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Following the shooting, he was in a coma at Stony Brook University Medical Center for several days; he has since been released and is walking with difficulty, said his father, George Willett.

Willett was with two girls he knew who "were getting hassled" by Austin and Jackson when he intervened to help, officials and family members said then. Willett exchanged words with the men, who sped off in a car but returned moments later. Police Wednesday said Jackson was the shooter and Austin the driver.

Austin was being held on $151,000 cash bail or $303,000 bond. Jackson was being held on $200,000 cash bail or $400,000 bond.

Due to an editing error, a previous headline described Adam Willett's condition incorrectly.