Police confront street takeovers at Ronkonkoma LIRR station, Uniondale

Police in both Suffolk and Nassau counties shut down street takeover events Saturday that resulted in dozens of summonses and two arrests, the departments announced.

Suffolk police shut down a street takeover Saturday at the Long Island Rail Road station in Ronkonkoma, where more than 40 vehicles gathered to watch and perform driving stunts in what has become a trend. The driver of a pickup truck who was caught doing "doughnuts" was cited in the 10:15 p.m. incident, Suffolk police said.

Police credited members of the recently formed Suffolk County Police Street Takeover Task Force and criminal intelligence officers with quickly shutting down the event as members of all seven Suffolk precincts arrived to block the exits to the train station parking lot before all the participants could flee the area.

Upon arriving, police found two drivers performing the stunts in the station's parking lot around dozens of vehicles and a crowd of onlookers, police said.

A 19-year-old Ronkonkoma man was issued tickets for performing a side show, engaging in stunt behavior and three other traffic violations, police said. His 2002 Dodge Ram was impounded. The driver of the second pickup truck was not apprehended, police said.

The Ronkonkoma incident followed what Nassau police described as a "large-scale illegal vehicle rally and possible street takeover" on Stewart Avenue in Uniondale shortly after 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Nassau's special operations bureau responded with its criminal intelligence rapid response team and an aviation unit, police said. 

Nassau police said they issued 31 summonses, two vehicles were impounded and a Wantagh man was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony, along with traffic violations.

Daniel Tiburcio, 25, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Sunday in Nassau District Court and released on his own recognizance, according to court records. No information on a defense attorney was available.

Police said Tiburcio had a fraudulent New York State inspection sticker on his vehicle.

"These illegal street takeovers are dangerous to the public and we have zero tolerance for them in Nassau County," Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said in a statement. 

Members of the Suffolk task force patrolling the area around the Ronkonkoma crackdown also later charged Jason Merino, 24, of Medford, with first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation under Angelica’s Law for driving with license suspensions on nine prior occasions, police said.

The law, named for a Holbrook teen killed in 2008 by an unlicensed driver with multiple prior suspensions, went into effect this month. It decreases from 10 to five the number of license suspensions necessary to upgrade an unlicensed operation charge from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Merino's car was impounded; he will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip at a later date, police said. 

Suffolk County officials announced the formation of their task force last week, following the arrests of two men in an illegal Nov. 3 street race that injured a police officer and caused a fiery crash as drivers tried to flee near Sunrise Highway in Islip. A similar takeover at a commercial parking lot in Patchogue led to multiple arrests in October, authorities said.

Intelligence officers are monitoring social media for planned takeover events, and Suffolk County Crime Stoppers is offering $500 cash rewards, payable within 72 hours, for information that leads to an arrest, officials said.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.