Marijuana plants found at Brookville nursery; 2 arrested

Two East Northport men were arrested and more than 150 marijuana plants seized on the property of Brookville Nurseries on Friday night, authorities said Saturday.

Nassau police said an employee of the nursery on Northern Boulevard called to report suspicious people on the property shortly before 10 p.m. County and Old Brookville police responded and, in a search of the property, K9 "Thunder" found Bryan Zembreski hiding in a wooded area next to four large bags that contained a substance "believed to be marijuana," police said. Zembreski, 36, was taken into custody.

Another man, Anthony Donarummo, 40, had hidden in heavier brush, but Thunder later located him and he was arrested, police said.

A search of the property revealed a marijuana grow operation, with plants up to 15 feet tall, police said.

Donarummo and Zembreski were charged with first-degree criminal possession of marijuana and arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead Saturday.

An employee who answered the phone at Brookville Nurseries declined to comment.

"As far as we can tell, they had no knowledge this was happening," a police spokeswoman said of the nursery.

Last week, a Kings Park man was accused of growing 100 7- to 10-foot-tall plants in a secluded recharge basin in Commack, officials said.

The arrest of Mark Kern, 54, resulted from Operation Green Thumb, a four-month surveillance of the sump at Motor Parkway and Redleaf Lane by the town, Suffolk County police and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

With Scott Eidler