Crime Nearby: Sentencing in DWI Crash that Paralyzed Young Girl

Syosset

A Bay Shore woman was sentenced to 3-9 years in prison for a 2010 drunk driving accident whic paralyzed her three year-old daughter, according to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.

Samantha Alfaro, 20, spent the night drinking at her cousin's East Meadow home on March 7 . At7:30 a.m. the next morning, drove her 1998 Mazda 626LX northon South Oyster Bay Road with her daughter in the backseat. , hit the curb and drove along the curb into oncoming traffic before crashing into a tree.

Alfaro’s daughter was secured with only a seatbelt at the time of the crash, not a child’s safety seat. The impact of the crash broke her neck and severed her spine by about five inches, leaving her paralyzed and unable to breathe.

Rescuers were able to revive the young girl.

Officers found the child’s safety seat in the trunk of Alfaro's car. They also found a half-empty bottle of vodka, plastic cups and multiple empty beer bottles inside the car. Alfaro’s mother now has custody of the child, who is now five years old.Alfaro’s blood-alcohol content was .11 nearly an hour after the crash.

She pleaded guilty in January to aggravated vehicular assault, aggravated driving while intoxicated and endangering the welfare of a minor.

Plainview
A Plainview couple were among nine people charged with stealing more than $282,000 in bogus Medicaid benefits, prosecutors said. Byung Jun, 42, and Myung Hee Jun, 43, face felony charges of  grand larceny, welfare fraud and filing falsified documents. Between January 2006 and August 2009, the couple stole more than $25,000 in undeserved Medicaid benefits by claiming on paperwork to only earn $650 per week,according to the Nassau County District Attorney's. They  did not disclose annual deposits into personal bank accounts of between $73,000 and $175,000, as well as their ownership of a Hauppauge nail salon, prosecutors said.

Five people distracted a Plainview jeweler and made off with an undetermined amount of jewelry Thursday afternoon, Nassau Police said. They entered  on Manetto Hill Road near Old Country Road at about 2:45 p.m. and two men asked the owner to look at earrings. While they distracted the jeweler, three women whose faces were covered in scarves unlocked display cases and removed assorted jewelry, police said.

All five bolted from the scene in a light blue Dodge Caravan with an extended roof top, fleeing west on Old Country Road. 

No injuries were reported. The value of the jewelry had not been determined.

Farmingdale

 Two men have been charged in connection with an , police said.

According to Nassau County police, Jordan Dissis, 18, of  Spark Hill, N.Y. and Louis Bueno, 18, of Huntington, approached a male on Main Street, pointed a handgun at his chest and demanded his belongings.

One stood behind the 33-year-old victim with a large Maglite flashlight and threatened to hit the victim if he did not cooperate, police said.  

 Huntington

A Centerport man was arrested early Sunday for driving while intoxicated after an accident that seriously injured a passenger in his vehicle, police said..

According to police, Richard Heiser, 31, was driving his 2005 Chevrolet truck east on Jericho Turnpike in Huntington when he made a left turn onto Broadway, lost control of the vehicle and struck two utility poles at approximately 1 a.m.

Jennifer Todero, 34, the only passenger in Heiser’s vehicle, suffered a serious injury to her leg. Todero, of Centerport, was transported to Huntington Hospital, and then transferred to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, where she was admitted in serious condition, according to police.

Heiser, was transported to Huntington Hospital with minor injuries, according to police.