Zachary Parker may face more prison time

Zachary Parker, the man at the center of a police corruption scandal, may have thrown away his second chance at freedom Thursday night when he drove without a license, crashed into a stop sign and left the scene, prosecutors said.

Parker, 20, of Merrick, faced a prison term of 11/3 to 4 years after pleading guilty in June to charges that he stole about $11,000 in video equipment from his Bellmore high school.

Nassau County Judge John Kase agreed to a lighter sentence of five years of probation with a suspended driver's license. Now that Parker violated the terms of his probation after just six weeks, he could receive the maximum term.

Parker's burglary arrest is at the center of a scandal that led three top police commanders to be charged with misconduct and conspiracy in March.

Prosecutors have said the now-retired defendants, William Flanagan, second deputy commissioner; John Hunter, deputy chief of patrol; and Alan Sharpe, Seventh Precinct Squad deputy commander, worked to quash an investigation into the burglary because of their relationship with Zachary's father, Gary Parker, a police benefactor.

Flanagan, Hunter and Sharpe all maintain their innocence and have pleaded not guilty.

Parker's lawyer, Marc Gann of Mineola, asked the judge Friday to send Parker to jail until his next court date on Aug. 15, and the judge obliged, ordering Parker held without bail.

"Both Zach and I realized that he needs to be punished for this bad decision," Gann said.

Prosecutors said Parker was ticketed for third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, a misdemeanor, and leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, a traffic infraction, after he crashed his car into a stop sign near the Broadway Mall in Hicksville.