The-Leader_1982-10-07

              Olliciai
Nettspapei •
Village ol
Freepofl' •
•
; Freeporl
Scfiool Oislrict
•
Baldwin
School District
^^^ORU^
^^^PIAJ^
;. FF.££:'CRr L'ZUO^IAL LISHART
¥ UE3RICK ROAD
FREEPORT. NEW YORK. OCTOBER 7,1982
47th YEAR. No. 24
PRICE 2 5 * PER COPY
Residents Seek Help for Br
One Dead In Crowd Asks Board To
Shooting On c/eon Ou# Crime, Drugs
Church Street
A HELPINO HAND. Fran Campion, prealdeni ot the North East
Fre«p6rt Civic AtMCiatlon (NEFCA), acceptf a $500 grant Irom
Frank Pelllcclone, the manager ol Clilbank'a Fraeport branch located
at 200 West Merrick Road. The grant villi b« used to purchase citizen
band radio equipment for NEFCA'a newly-organtzad neighborhood
crime watch civilian patrol program. Having Idenlified lour sectors
wiihln the north east corner ol the village. NEFCA has orgariUed two
mobile citizen band radio-equipped cars and two citizen band base
stations lor each sector. Crime watch volunteers will man the base
stations and patrol In cars to assist Freeporl Villags Police by reporting
crimes and suspicious activities.
Intruder Rapiss Woman
In Baldwin Home
BALDWIN - A five-month
pregnant Baldwin wonun was
raped, allegedly at knife-point,
early Tuesday rooming, October
5, by a man who broke Into her'
home and surprised her while she
-was asleep.-
According to the police, the
woman was sleeping on the living
loom couch while her sister was
asleep in the bedroom, when the
man broke in through the base­ment
door at a little before 2 am.
The intruder, described as a
Hispanic, walked into the living
room and. armed with a weapon.
described as a folding knife with
a ' six-inch blade, reportedly
awoke the woman and raped her.
As ti>e man ran back down­stairs
to the basement, to leave
the way be bad come in. the
woman screamed and awakened
her sister, who called police.
. .Ftrit Precinct police officers
responding to the call reportedly
caught sight of the man, who was
Oeeing on foot, and chased him.
At one point, they thought they
had him surrounded, but he
eluded the police and apparently
made his way to Freeport. where
Tiewasspotfed again'before get--
ling away.
The suspect has been described
as about 20 years old. 5'9' tall
and thin though muscular. He is
reported to have a m<xistache
and, at the time of the incident,
be dressed in a black satin-tike
finish jacket, similar to a tuxedo
or to what a waiter wtmid wear.
over a white shirt.
The .'woman was treated at
Mercy Hospital and then re­leased.
First Squad personnel are
investigating.
Police sources say the rape was
the first this year in the Baldwin
area.
FREEFORT • A shooting at a
small storefront "social dub" on
Church Street in Freeport has
left one man dead, a second in
ctitical condition, and a third the
subject of a search by Nassau
Oxuity Homicide Sqtiad
detectires.
The ioddent occnned at
2 JO tiB on Monday, October 4,
at 26 Chnrch Street. The dub,
had ha4 with commonJ^ leaders
aUegedl/'fre^quented by Spanish-apeakingr~
card-play&ig,.. pool.
playing, dice-throwing men and
arguments and fights were the
tnd results cf many a late hoar of
drinking and gambling, area
tenants say.
According to the police report,
the dead man — Silvio Rodriguez,
27, of 98 Rose Street — had come
to the dub earlier that evening.
Allegedly a verbal argument
ensiKd between Rodriguez and at
least one other man, now being
sought by police.
1 ^ otiier victim of the shoot­ing,
Vincent Lastere, 51, of 156
South Main Street, might have
iost been an innocent ^tander
to the argument.
It does appear, however, that
Rodriguez and the still unidenti-
(Coni.DnPage4)
Vlliage To Hold
Public Hearing On
CSEA Contract
FREEPORT - At the Village
Board of Trustees' weekly open
legislative session held Monday
.evening, October 4. Mayor
William H. White tecommended
that a public hearing be sched­uled
in an attempt to resolve the
contractual <Uspute between the
village employees' bargaining
unit, the CSEA, and the village.
A date of Monday, October 18.
at 8 pm, was set and is being
advertised in this week's issue of
THELEADER.
The legislative hearing by the
Village Board fallows rejection
by the CSEA membership of a
fact finder's report, which would
have given vUlage employees,
an 8% increase op a one year
contract, woul^l £ave mandated
an agency shop, and would have
- spec^d that the two sides
negotiate i cap on the village
employees' medical insurance as
FREEFORT - Mote than 100 village residenu attended the Monday
evening, October 4th meeting of the Village Board ofTmstees and, by..
their presestatioas, applause or shoots expressed their concern and
fears about the conditions on Broadway and surrounding areas in
northeast Freeport. ' . •*
"Noway, H's gotten worse," they shouted, when MayctLWilliam H.
White, referring to past talks he
had had with community leaders
of that area, said "Broadway is
better now than ft-was a year
ago.
The residents ^^some of whem
were young bamesteading fami­lies,
others who bad been fiving
on Broadway for more than a
decade'-^ described the drug
traffic; continual loitering; the
drinking of alcsitolic beverages on
the street; harrassment of pass­ing
vehicles and pedestrians;
vandalism to homes, stores and
parked autos; parse snatching;
and burglaries and break-ins.
Wlule they apparently agreed
on the problem, tbey didn't all
agree on where the blame should
beplaced.
Several of the reddents com­plained
that there was oat endu^
polidng In the area and, when the
police were called, the criminals
had left before tlie police can
arrived.
Betty Smeido, of Broadwa/,
called Broadway "one of the main
areas for people to come and get
it (dmgsl..J1iis is one of die
things tiut brings a neighborhood
down," she said. She pointed
out tiut "an the white people
vacated" the nei^bochood and
tliis i» why. she said, the Greek
diorcli has also left Freeport.
Mrs. Smeido told the Board
tiiat a serious heroin-problem
exists and. oseA win resort to
anytiiing to get money. "Crime is
being bred from this," she said,
condnding tliat on Broadway,
"drugs are being sold every
single day and n i ^ . "
Rev. Carter, tlie minister at tiie
Refuge Church of Christ, whidt
b d u ^ tlie property on Broadway
from St. Demetrious Greek Ortho­dox
durdi, said during his first
week there, "some fellows tried
to sell OS pro(ection...We have
built a fence to keep us away
from the wall.'" he said, refer­ring
to tliat area often considered
the center for drug trafficking,
"but I don't think that's the Und
of welcome we expected." He
warned tliat he told those who
' tried to extort tlie dmrcb that be
had "a baseball bat and win use
It."
"Right on...go use it," cried
the crowd, breaking into ap-
(Cont. on Page 16)
SCENE OF A SH(X)TING. The door to the "social club" at 28 Church
Street is ajar late Monday aiteriKXjn. October 4, as Nassau and Free-port
poikM olticers and County homicide detectives begin thsir work
at trying to unravel the story behind the murder ol one man and the
shooting of a second. The early morning incident apparently was
triggered oft by a verbal argument following an evening of drinking
and gambling in the club. No signs . In existence Indicating the
purpose of the store-lront facility wh. local residents and busi­ness-
persons Indicate, has t^een ooerati' 'or some time. (See story,
this page.) (A LEADER photo)