Crime & Safety

Crime Nearby: More Pain for Prescription Forger

Notable arrests and convictions around Long Island.

A Queens woman left two young children in the car and attempted to fill a forged prescription for Percocet at an East Meadow pharmacy Wednesday afternoon, according to Nassau County Police. 

Cheryl Ann Shearer, 33, of Bayside, is charged with 17 counts of second-degree possession of a forged instrument, six counts of first-degree identity theft, one count of endangering the welfare of child and false personation.  

Shearer was denied the prescription at a Hempstead Turnpike Walgreens. And when police responded, they found two boys – an 8-year-old and 10-week-old – in her car.

Police said Shearer had filled forged prescriptions at multiple pharmacies in Nassau County over the past three months. 

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AG Takes Biz to Cleaners

A Huntington businessman was arrested Wednesday and accused of failing to pay his workers properly.

Jose Hector Hernandez Gramajo, 37, owner of Royal Commercial Cleaning, was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court for failing to pay proper wages to workers he assigned to clean the United Artists Sheepshead Bay Stadium 14 movie theater, state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said.

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The business cleans at least 27 movie theaters in the New York area.

Hernandez and his cleaning company face felony grand larceny and scheme to defraud, among other criminal charges, for making his employees kick back money owed to them from a previous federal investigation, for filing false applications for Workers Compensation Insurance and for filing false quarterly state tax returns to avoid paying unemployment insurance. Gramajo faces up to 7 years behind bars.

An earlier investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found Hernandez owed a total of nearly $87,000, including back wages, to some of his 33 employees. According to the attorney general’s criminal complaint, Hernandez gave those employees checks for more than $3,000 and told them to cash the checks and return the money to him. If employees didn't return the money they would not have jobs, Schneiderman said.

Police Shoot Driver

An Oyster Bay man was shot July 1 after he struck a Nassau Police officer with his car and nearly ran him over a second time as he attempted to flee.  

Police charged Leo Duchnowski, 22, of Oyster Bay, with assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Police stopped Duchnowski’s vehicle on Horse Hollow Road in Locust Valley at about 10 p.m., where officers were conducting a drug investigation. 

As an officer approached the car, Duchnowski attempted to flee, police said. The car struck the officer and knocked him to the ground. Duchnowski then put the car in reverse in an attempt to get away, police said. 

With his car headed toward the officer still on the ground, police said the officer fired his weapon and wounded Duchnowski.

Cops Find Stolen Earthmover

If you are going to steal an earth-moving John Deere Skid Steer – you know, bright yellow heavy-metal construction equipment – don’t stash it in your driveway.

Nassau Police arrested Anastassios Poukamisas, 19, of North Massapequa, last Tuesday after alert cops saw the vehicle reported stolen one night earlier by Suffolk’s Fifth Precinct. The conspicuous John Deere was parked in his driveway, police said. 

Poukamisas is charged with criminal possession of stolen property.

LI Speeder Arrested

A Mineola man who drove 40 mph over the posted speed limit was arrested in West Virginia after leading police on a high-speed chase.

Dave Eraco, 29, was arrested on Friday after he allegedly sped through a construction zone on Interstate 81, according to theMartinsburg Journal.

Eraco reportedly topped 111 mph as State Police gave chase.

Eraco is charged with speeding in a construction zone, reckless driving and driving without a license. He is being held on a $9,000 bond.



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