Using, selling Fourth of July fireworks leads to injuries, damage, arrests on Long Island

Fourth of July fireworks-related incidents injured at least five people across Long Island, including two men who lost fingers, and led to nine arrests, police said.

In Port Jefferson Station, two men, a woman and a young girl were seriously injured when a firework in a large display went astray at a Foxrun Court home at about 10 p.m., Suffolk County police said.

The four were taken to Stony Brook University Hospital and treated for various injuries: a 38-year-old man from Mount Sinai was treated for burns and a serious leg injury; a 30-year-old man from Selden was treated for burns and a severed finger; a 30-year-old woman and an 8-year-old girl were treated for minor injuries, police said. Several cars were also damaged in the incident, police said.

Suffolk Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said an arrest is pending in the case.

"This again is just an example of the terrible things that can happen when people who should not be using fireworks use fireworks," Catalina said. "These were innocent people. These were not people setting off the fireworks. These were people who were there to see an illegal demonstration."

Elsewhere in Suffolk, police arrested a Smithtown man Thursday for possession of weapons and fireworks.

Fourth Precinct officers conducted a search warrant at 2:40 p.m. at a home on Pia Boulevard and confiscated two assault rifles, two handguns, several high capacity feeding devices and bullets. Police said they also found 15 boxes of fireworks, containing approximately 100 mortars and two firework cakes.

Christopher Giancola, 52, was charged with five counts each of criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree criminal contempt; two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of fireworks. He is scheduled to be arraigned Saturday in Central Islip.

In Copiague, shortly after 9 p.m., a 21-year-old man was seriously injured after he lit a firework that exploded in his hand while at a party in front of a Trouville Road home.

The explosion severed three fingers and damaged two on his left hand, police said. He also suffered a burn to one leg, and first-responding officers applied a tourniquet to stem the bleeding. The victim, a resident of Eastchester, was taken to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip for treatment of serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

In Nassau, three people were charged with possession of illegal fireworks in separate incidents.

Karamjit Singh, 33, of Levittown, was arrested after he supplied his 11-year-old son with fireworks and instructed the child to ignite it, authorities said. The firework malfunctioned, causing a fire that left four people homeless, police said. No one was injured, but the fire, which started in a shed in the yard and spread to Singh's adjacent house, caused extensive damage, police said.

"The defendant furnished his child with 1.4G explosives, consumer grade fireworks, and instructed the child to light them," according to a felony complaint. "One firework was then lit and functioned improperly firing a burning projectile into a detached shed on the property."

A police detective at the scene also found "additional unused fireworks in the garage."

Singh pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday and was released on his own recognizance. Singh was also ordered to have no contact with his son.

In Franklin Square, at 6:18 p.m., police observed a man setting off fireworks on the corner of Third Street and Second Avenue, and found 14 boxes of fireworks in a 2019 Dodge RAM.

Police arrested Nicholas Moschonas, 33, of Franklin Square, charging him with unlawfully selling fireworks and reckless endangerment. The owner of the Dodge, Peter Mari, was charged with unlawfully selling fireworks, reckless endangerment and explosives charges. 

The two men pleaded not guilty at their arraignments Friday in Hempstead and were each released on their own recognizance.

Employees of five Nassau businesses were also charged with unlawfully selling fireworks and issued appearance tickets. The businesses include Discount Store on Burnside Avenue in Inwood; INC Convenience Store on Main Street in South Farmingdale; Wittenburg Enterprises Convenience on Wantagh Avenue in Levittown; Rainbow Card Gallery on Stewart Avenue in Bethpage and OK GO Gas Station on Wantagh Avenue in Levittown.

With Matthew Chayes