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Crime & Safety

Update: Man arrested in Massapequa Park in Connection with Heroin Death

Police: Robert Michalski inject the narcotic drug into man and killed him.

Following a year-long investigation by Long Beach and Nassau County detectives, a 40-year-old man was arrested Friday night and charged with injecting a Long Beach man with heroin, which resulted in his death, authorities said.

The suspect, identified as Robert Michalski, was arrested in Massapequa Park at 9:45 p.m. and charged with second-degree manslaughter for recklessly causing the death of another and criminal injection of a narcotic drug, police said.

Michalski is accused of injecting heroin into the victim, Robert Michelman, 40, at the victim’s home on Forester Street in Long Beach on Feb. 3, 2010. After the incident, the suspect apparently left for Virginia Beach, Va., where he had been living for the past year until his recent return to Massapequa Park.

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The arrest capped an extensive investigation by the Long Beach and Nassau County police departments.

“The arrest of the subject is testimony to the perseverance of the Long Beach Police Department and the tenacity of the Long Beach detectives and Nassau County Homicide Division,” said Deputy Inspector Bruce Meyer of the Long Beach police. “The case is now in the hands of the judicial system.”

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The victim’s sister, Patti Michelman, 43, of Long Beach, said the incident is particularly disturbing because the victim and suspect had known each other since they were eight years old.

They were childhood friends who both attended East Elementary School and remained buddies through Long Beach High School.

“He was a person my brother grew up with,” she said. “He [Michalski] was a boy who always got into trouble.”

She said her father, Howard Michelman, had warned her brother to steer clear of Michalski in recent years.

“He started coming around here again and he asked my brother to stay away from him,” she said.

She said her brother was an alcoholic, but did not know him to do any drugs.

“I know for a fact he didn’t do that,” she said. “He was a lefty and the [heroin] needle was found in his left arm.”

However, the victim’s uncle, Harold Michelman, said his nephew used drugs occasionally. He said his nephew, a native-American from Alberta Canada, was adopted at the age of 2 and his birth mother was a heavy drinker and he suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome. He said that condition predisposed him to a world of alcohol and drug use.

“He was born into that,” the victim’s uncle said.

He added that his nephew worked at his shop, Surf Glass, an auto glass and repair shop in Long Beach, since he was 16. The victim’s father was a partner in the shop until he retired.

“He was a hard worker,” the uncle said of his nephew. “He was a likeable character. He had a heart of gold. He was very generous.”

The incident took place in the victim’s downstairs apartment in the Forester Street home where his parents lived, cops said.

“This has been a very difficult year,” the victim’s sister said. “He was my baby brother. I was very close to him. As a kid, I always had to protect him.”

She said his death took an enormous toll on their father, who died of cancer on Dec. 6.

“When my brother died, my father lost his will to fight the cancer,” she said.

Meyer said, “You can clearly see what an emotional toll this has taken on the victim’s family. And with the arrest of the subject, I hope this brings some closure for them."

The victim’s sister called the arrest “bittersweet” because she wished her father was around to hear the news of Michalski’s capture.

She praised the efforts of the Long Beach police in their investigation that culminated with the arrest of Michalski.

Michalski was arraigned on Saturday before Long Beach City Court Judge Roy Tepper, and was held without bail and remanded to the Nassau County jail in East Meadow.  

If found guilty of second-degree manslaughter, Michalski could face a maximum of 15 years in prison and up to four years for criminal injection of a narcotic drug, officials said.

* This story was updated from the original.

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