Edward Perkowski Sr. awarded $100G from Brookhaven Town over its condemnation of his Mount Sinai rental home

A federal jury in Brooklyn has awarded $100,001 to a former Mount Sinai man who said he lost his home when Brookhaven Town officials condemned it after his son was arrested on weapons charges.

Edward Perkowski Sr., 73, had filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the town after he said he was forced to leave the house he rented following the 2016 arrest of his son, Edward Perkowski Jr., then 29. The younger Perkowski later was acquitted on all charges.

Jurors on Friday found the town guilty following a five-day trial of unlawfully entering and condemning the Miller Place-Middle Island Road house. They awarded the elder Perkowski $100,000 for the unlawful condemnation count and $1 for the unlawful entry count.

Perkowski, a retired truck driver and oil burner mechanic, had sought $7 million.

"I'm happy that a jury agreed with me that Brookhaven had no right to enter my home or to condemn it," he said in a statement released by his lawyer, Ray Negron of Mount Sinai. "I'll finally get compensated for their wrongdoing."

Perkowski, a Vietnam veteran who now lives in Bedford, Pennsylvania, said in court papers he had lost possessions such as money and jewelry that had been left in the house when it was condemned. He said in court papers he had spent $200,000 to repair and improve the house as part of a deal with his landlord to reduce his rent.

Negron said in a text message to Newsday he was "happy to see my client finally get justice. Unfortunately, the residents of Brookhaven will pay several hundred thousands of dollars in legal fees on top of an award that should have been offered in 2016."

In an email to Newsday, Brookhaven spokesman Jack Krieger said the town “does not comment on matters of litigation."

Court papers said the condemnation stemmed from a Suffolk County police raid at Perkowski's home on June 16, 2016. News reports from the time said police displayed weapons and Nazi paraphernalia at a news conference that they said had been seized from the home.

A Suffolk County Court jury in May 2017 found Edward Perkowski Jr. not guilty on eight counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one charge of criminal possession of a weapon.

Brookhaven officials in court papers said they had been asked by Suffolk police to inspect Perkowski's home after his son was arrested. Town officials said the house was condemned because it was a dangerous structure with a motorcycle, gas cans, a chain saw and a lawn mower stored in the basement.

Weeks after the condemnation, Perkowski said, he and his family discovered personal possessions were missing when the town allowed them to retrieve their belongings from the house.

The house later was sold at auction as part of a foreclosure proceeding, court papers said.

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.