Christopher Heron had been convicted in October at Nassau County court of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

Prosecutors said the 37-year-old Springfield Gardens man stabbed the victim, William Mena, 33, of Queens, three times in the chest and abdomen just after midnight on Aug. 12, 2011.

Heron and the victim were both cab drivers for Ollie’s Taxi. Heron had accused the victim of stealing a fare that had been assigned to him.

Mena was pronounced dead at the scene. Heron turned himself after initially fleeing the scene.

The slaying was captured on a nearby residential surveillance camera.

Bumble Bee Towing owner Christopher Capurso of Franklin Square was arrested for allegedly extorting victims in Floral Park. (Nassau County Police Department Mug Shot)

A Franklin Square tow truck driver was arrested on April 19 for extortion, after police say he posted his own “no parking” signs in commercial lots, enforced them illegally by towing parked vehicles, then demanded money from his victims.

Bumble Bee Towing owner and tow truck driver Christopher Capurso, 22, of Franklin Square was “holding cars hostage,” Floral Park Village Police say, preying upon customers of local businesses who did nothing wrong.

The fraudulent signs read: “Customer/Tenant Parking Only 24 Hours – 7 Days A Week Unauthorized Vehicles Will be Towed at Owners Expense… Cars released by appointment only.”

Police say after temporarily posting the signs in various locations, Capurso hooked up parked vehicles to his truck, waited for the owners to return and then charged his victims $150-$200 to release their vehicles, before removing the signs.

Capurso was charged with seven counts of grand larceny, but police say they are investigating more than a dozen similar complaints against Bumble Bee Towing In Nassau County.

Capurso had his tow truck operator license revoked and was released on $500 bond. He will appear in Nassau County First District Court on May 10.

Stephen Centore in his Town of Hempstead Department of Building shirt. (Courtesy of Facebook)

A Town of Hempstead code enforcement officer with nearly three decades on the job has abruptly resigned after being accused of stealing a laptop computer from his boss’s office earlier this month.

Stephen Centore was arrested and charged with felony grand larceny March 5, four days after he allegedly stole a Panasonic Tough Book computer worth more than $1,000 from the acting Chief of Public Safety’s office in town hall on Washington Street.

“The town does not comment on issues where there’s an ongoing criminal case,” Michael Deery, the town’s chief spokesman, told the Press.

Centore “did not have permission and/or authority to use, posses or remove this item from the office,” according to court documents.

Town officials reported the alleged theft to Hempstead village police, who released the 56-year-old Franklin Square man on a desk appearance ticket, according to the police chief.

Judge Eric Bjorneby released Centore without bail Tuesday. Centore is due back in court May 2.

Centore started working for the town Oct. 7, 1985 and earned $109,000 last year. He resigned from the town building department on March 8.

The case wasn’t the first time Centore found himself on the wrong side of the law. He was also suspended 60 days in 2007 and fined $500 in county court the following year after pleading guilty to illegal use of a single family home, according to a Newsday report at the time.

It’s also not the only criminal case pending against a Hempstead town official. Hempstead Town Clerk Mark Bonilla refused calls from fellow Republicans to resign after he pleaded not guilty in September to official misconduct, attempted coercion and petit larceny.

Prosecutors have alleged Bonilla asked the ex-boyfriend of a female subordinate to give him compromising photos of the woman in an attempt to get the 21-year-old victim to drop a sexual harassment complaint against Bonilla, who has said he’s been set up by political rivals.

Centore could not be reached for comment. No attorney was listed for him in court records.

The 20-year-old victim asked his friend, who was driving the car he was riding in, to pull over so he could buy cigarettes on Hempstead Turnpike when the victim was jumped after getting out of the vehicle at 1:30 p.m., police said.

The robbers pulled the victim’s hood over his head, punched him and stabbed him repeatedly before stealing a Michael Kors watch from his wrist and fleeing the scene.

The victim got back in the car when he realized he had been stabbed. The driver then took the victim to a local hospital for treatment.

Fourth Squad detectives request anyone with information regarding this Robbery to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

Brian Daly, 24, was speeding in his Lincoln southbound on Franklin Avenue when he blew a read light and struck an eastbound Ford at the corner of Corona Avenue at 9:15 p.m., police said.

The Lincoln then hit a Subaru that stopped for the red light at the same corner. That was not injured, but the driver of the Ford, Christopher Decrescito, was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Daly was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, reckless driving and driving while intoxicated.

He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of injuries to his right hip and right arm. He will be arraigned as soon as medically practical, police said.

Homicide Squad detectives impounded the vehicles for safety inspections while the investigation is continuing.

Nassau County police said Quandell Cooper met the victim on Dutch Broadway in Elmont and forced her to drive him to Roosevelt Field Mall, to Queens and then back to the mall on Saturday afternoon.

Cooper punched the woman and threatened her with a hammer during the drive back and forth, police said. She escaped when they returned to the mall the second time and later called police from her Franklin Square home.

Police installed in the victim’s home a CAPER alarm, which the victim activated when Cooper began to pounding on her door at 12:45 a.m. Monday, police said.

Officers apprehended Cooper and found the victim’s vehicle shortly later. The victim suffered minor injuries to her neck and shoulder. Both she and the suspect are 24 years old.

Cooper was charged with robbery, assault and unlawful imprisonment. He will be arraigned Monday at First District Court in Hempstead.

Gabriel Dipierno

An alleged drug dealer from Franklin Square was arrested after Nassau County police said they found a large stash of drugs, explosives, guns and ammunition in his home.

Police said they saw 26-year-old Gabriel Dipierno sell six decks of heroin to 28-year-old Kenneth J. Butler II, also of Franklin Square, at 5:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Officers found heroin and a cache of commonly abused prescription painkiller pills in Dipierno’s vehicle, police said. Detectives then obtained a search warrant for Dipierno’s home, where they found more than 4,000 tablets and several hundred bottles of Anabolic Steroids, several hundred vials of Ketamine, heroin and an array of prescription pills.

The raid also uncovered assorted assault rifles, two .12 gauge pump shotguns, assorted magazines and ammunition, commercial grade explosives, digital scales and more than $7,000 cash.

The prescriptions allegedly found in the home included Alprazolam, Valium, Vyvanese, Clonazepam, Diazepam, Methandrostenolane, Oxycodone, Suboxone and  Carisprodol.

Members of the Asset Forfeiture Unit-Criminal Intelligence Rapid Response Team (CIRRT) initiated the bust, police said.

Dipierno and Butler were each charged with criminal possession of a control substance. Dipierno was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and violation of two New York State labor laws regulating storage of explosives and licenses and certificates.

They will be arraigned Wednesday at First District Court in Hempstead.