Island Park scrapyard owner says probe of catalytic converter thefts violated his rights

The owner of an Island Park scrapyard filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Nassau County and its top law enforcement officials Friday, claiming investigators seized more than $7.5 million in personal and business assets without ever charging him with a crime.

Alan Pawelsky, the owner of Ace Auto Recycling, said the Dec. 14 seizure, which county officials presented as the culmination of a yearlong investigation into catalytic converter thefts, has led to the “complete destruction” of his business and personal reputation, costing him “hundreds of millions of dollars” in future earnings, according to the lawsuit filed in Eastern District Court in Brooklyn on Friday.

“This action represents one of the most severe and gross violations of the Constitution of the United States,” reads the complaint filed on behalf of Pawelsky and his business by attorney Gerald Cohen of Manhattan. The suit names Nassau County and County Executive Bruce Blakeman as defendants along with District Attorney Anne Donnelly and her office, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder and his department, and several investigators involved in the seizure.

Nassau police spokesman Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun said Friday evening that his department was unable to comment due to pending litigation. Brendan Brosh, communications director for Donnelly, also declined to comment on the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Blakeman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The complaint makes claims for deprivation of federal rights, unlawful search and seizure, and several more civil rights violations.

Pawelsky, of Long Beach, alleges the predawn raid occurred based on “false and/or misleading information” and without any evidence a crime was committed, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges the county has kept millions of dollars in equipment, $3.3 million it seized from a business bank account and $4.3 million from a customer without “ever charging anyone with even a violation, let alone a crime.”

The complaint states in the four months since the seizure, Pawelsky has not been afforded a hearing or given any other opportunity to reclaim the assets.

In a letter attached to the complaint, the district attorney’s office told an attorney for Pawelsky in February that the seizure was conducted with court-authorized search warrants and is part of “an active and ongoing criminal investigation.”

At a December news conference, county officials said the search warrants were served at the homes of Pawelsky, his brother and a third man in Huntington, as well as business properties associated with the three men.

Officials said the officers seized five machines at the Pawelsky brothers’ businesses that are used to crush, or “decant,” the catalytic converters. Ryder said the process turned the metals — rhodium, palladium and platinum — into a fine powder that can be sold for as much as $12,000 an ounce.

“Make no mistake, these are not simple thefts,” Donnelly said at the news conference. “These are criminal organizations that are profiting on a large scale.”

 Reached by phone Saturday, another of Pawelsky's attorneys, J.R. Stevenson of White Plains, said in an email that his client was forced to file the lawsuit to recoup what took a decade to build and has yet to be returned, much less compensated.
"In short, our client, Alan Pawelsky, is an American success story who founded his recycling business, Ace Auto Recycling, Inc., at the age of 18. Pawelsky grew that business to over a $100 million dollars in annual revenue in less than 10 years," Stevenson said. "Without a shred of evidence, Nassau County officials targeted Pawelsky and his business solely to make splashy headlines."
None of the seized property has been returned, and no one has been charged, Stevenson said.

With Matthew Chayes

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.