Suffolk County police said Ronald Murphy was driving a Nissan Altima northbound on William Floyd Parkway when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree and utility pole near the corner of Coraci Boulevard shortly before noon Sunday.

Murphy, who was driving alone, was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue where he was pronounced dead.

Seventh Squad detectives impounded the vehicle for a safety check, are continuing the investigation and ask anyone with information on this crash to call them at 631-852-8752.

Vincent Petruso, 74, of East Moriches, was described by his family as a “dedicated member of the Long Island Soaring Association,” a five-decade-old nonprofit group dedicated to piloting such engineless aircraft.

The group is based out of Brookhaven Calabro Airport, where Petruso’s glider left shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday until it went down about 15 minutes later near Titmus Drive in Mastic.

Two people died in August when their single-engine propeller plane that crash landed on a Shirley side street minutes after taking off from the same airport.

Two others died when their small plane crashed into the Moriches Inlet in October. That plane had taken off from Spadaro Airport in East Moriches.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators are expected to issue a preliminary report on the glider crash in about a week.

The John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility in Yaphank.

A tentative deal to stop Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone from shutting down the John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility has apparently collapsed when the workers’ union leadership did not allow its membership to vote on the proposal at a union meeting Monday.

The next day after the meeting, Suffolk County Legis. Kate Browning (WFP-Shirley) and John Kennedy (R-Nesconset)—two of the Legislature’s most vocal supporters of the union members’ efforts to keep the county in public hands and prevent Bellone from leasing it to private nursing home operators—issued a joint press release urging Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees President Dan Farrell to let the employees vote on their future.

Farrell countered that the two legislators’ refusal to withdraw their names from a lawsuit blocking the sale, which he is also a party to, stopped him from bringing up the tentative deal for a vote.

“I wanted them to stop the lawsuit so we can make this deal and people can be employed,” Farrell told the Press.
In the legislators’ Tuesday news release, Kennedy said he’d never gotten the document he is accused of refusing to sign, and Browning received a copy of the document only hours before Monday’s union meeting.

“I was clear that I will make my decision based on the vote of the membership,” said Browning in her statement.  “That has not happened yet.  I have also relayed that I would like the county executive to speak with me and Legislator Kennedy directly, and to date he has not requested to meet with me.  I believe it is appropriate for that meeting to occur with the county executive and his attorney and with the attorney representing the union, the legislators and the residents.”

“I have been very clear that I would be guided in any decision regarding continuation of the lawsuit by a vote of the membership at the nursing home,” said Kennedy. “I will not restrict any review or speech about any matter going forward.”

Bellone said the nursing home costs the county about $1 million a year in subsidies to keep the facility open. For $23 million, he wants to turn over its operation to Israel and Samuel Sherman, who run a chain of nursing homes in New York. In the county executive’s proposal, the SCAME would drop its lawsuit against the county and the Shermans would keep Foley’s 180 workers at their present wages and provide their health care benefits for 18 months at least.

“Now we’re back to square one, and I’m afraid the county is going to close the facility,” said Farrell. “Unless I hear otherwise.” He says the county has “already started a closure procedure and I’m assuming they’re going to continue on that path.”

Sources told the Press that it’s unclear whether Farrell actually had the votes to prevail on the tentative deal, which he’d made with Bellone. Meanwhile, the county is still hopeful an agreement can be worked out, and that SCAME may reschedule a vote soon.

But as Kennedy and Browning made clear, neither legislator is happy with Bellone’s proposed settlement, and both want changes made.

“The agreement reaches much farther than dropping the existing lawsuit,” they said in their release. “It goes on to prohibit legislators from publicly opposing a lease proposal, even though the lease proposal never went through a public bidding process. A direct lease to the Shermans as proposed would be illegal and unethical, and certainly not in the best interest of Suffolk County taxpayers.”

The Bellone administration claims the county has only two options left for the nursing home.

“One is that we continue with the state-approved closure plan and the facility closes, the workers lose their jobs and all the residents are transferred to other facilities,” says Deputy County Executive Jon Schneider. “The second is that we approve the deal that was worked out between AME, the administration and the Shermans, which means we do a lease that will immediately end our operating loss of a million dollars a month, provide additional revenue to Suffolk County, provide jobs to all the workers and keep all the residents in their beds….There’s no plan C here. There’s this deal and then there’s closure.”

But Browning says the county does have another choice regarding the 264-bed facility, which now has roughly 180 patients left.

“Why wouldn’t you run it to fill the beds?” Browning said. The county has allowed the bed vacancy rate to increase. “How do you justify the need to sell it? You run it into the ground and show that it’s not making money.”

Charles Matthews was charged Tuesday with endangering the welfare of a child and obstruction of governmental administration.

Southold Town Police said the girl’s mother reported her daughter missing Monday after finding a note that caused the family to fear for the victim’s safety—a case that mirrored that of 16-year-old Ashley Murray of Peconic, who was found safe last month after 12 days missing.

Local authorities and State University of New York Police found the girl in Matthews’ dorm room after he allegedly wasn’t forthcoming about the girl’s whereabouts, police said.

He was released on $250 bail.

Suffolk County police said Sophan Korur was crossing William Floyd Parkway when he was hit by a southbound Toyota Camry south of Montauk Highway at 7:17 p.m.

The victim was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue where he died shortly later.

The driver, 26-year-oldAngela Gonzalez of Patchogue, was not injured in the crash.

Seventh Squad detectives are continuing the investigation and ask anyone who may have witnessed the crash to contact them at 631-852-8752.

The officer was driving south on William Floyd Parkway around 10 p.m. when a female driver heading west on Victory Avenue T-boned the officer’s car, police said. The officer, who was not identified, was trapped inside the vehicle and had to be extricated, police said.

The officer was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was treated and released, police said. The female driver was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital for treatment.

The injured officer was responding to a call of three males robbing a Dunkin Donuts when the crash occurred, police said. One of the males displayed a handgun during the robbery but nobody was injured. It wasn’t immediately clear what was taken.

Both the officer’s crash and the robbery are under investigation, police said.

Investigators said Angel Rivas, 33, fessed up to the crime after he was interviewed a second time on Jan. 4 when Suffolk County police responded to a disturbance at a convenience store in Shirley, authorities said.

Rivas approached a Suffolk police officer and “stated…that he had shined the laser beam at the aircraft,” on Aug. 21, 2012, according to the criminal complaint.

Investigators said Rivas voluntarily waived his Miranda rights and stated that he used a laser pointer to direct a laser beam at an airplane and Suffolk County police helicopter flying overhead, according to the complaint.

During the initial investigation, a Suffolk police aviation unit was able to confirm that the laser beam came from Rivas’ home on William Floyd Parkway, but Rivas denied any wrongdoing at the time, authorities said.

“Rivas allegedly endangered the lives of passengers and crew of not one but two aircraft, and potentially, people on the ground,” said George Venizelos, assistant director-in-charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York office. “Pointing a laser at an aircraft is not a prank, it is a federal crime with penalties befitting its seriousness.”

Rivas is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

Omar Santiago suffered a head wound after allegedly stealing from a West Sayville wedding.

It turns out 2012 was a bang up year for stupid crime on Long Island as local suspects—some of whom are still fighting their charges—raised the bar for WTF police news moments.

And it wasn’t an easy year to be a stand-out crook. Remember the Sandy crime sprees, gas line assaults and post-superstorm price gougers? Then there’s the alleged public corruption, including the conviction of former Nassau County Legis. Roger Corbin, the arrest of Hempstead Town Clerk Mark Bonilla and a half dozen Nassau County police officers and officials facing various charges over the past 12 months.

While those who made this list didn’t leave anyone dead, some came close or, at the very least, put the suspects and public at risk. Move over Lindsay Lohan, these are our local candidates for TruTV’s World’s Dumbest Criminals.

10. Alleged West Sayville Wedding Gift Thief

Weddings are always nice. Love is in the air. There’s usually an open bar. Families put aside their feuds for a day. But someone always makes an ass of themselves. Or, in Omar Santiago’s case, Suffolk County police said he ruined one couple’s nuptials over Labor Day weekend by trying to steal a box of gift envelopes. The New Jersey teen was quickly apprehended by fellow guests as he ran from the West Sayville Country Club after stuffing a bunch of the envelopes down his pants. Smooth. The gifts were returned and Santiago pleaded not guilty.

9. New Cassel Man Plays Dentist

The tools Nassau police said Manuel Carranza used.

OK, this one is kind of disturbing. Many people are scared of the dentist, but Nassau County police said more than 100 folks had no problem having an undocumented immigrant with a sixth-grade education use unsanitary second-hand tools to perform dental work on them in his dirty New Cassel home/office. A tipster dropped a dime on the wannabe tooth fairy in April—after he’d been running his cash-only business for at least a year. Manuel Carranza was charged with unauthorized practice of a crime, criminal diversion of a prescription and other counts.

8. Bellport Teen Allegedly Brings Drugs to Court

Ah, to be young again. That feeling of invincibility that gets so many kids in trouble is apparently strong with this one. Authorities said that Keandre Hudson swallowed bags of cocaine and heroin before being arrested for fleeing police in October. He passed the drugs while locked up at Suffolk County jail, where he is being held after not posting bail. The 17-year-old Bellport man then allegedly brought the drugs with him to court while pleading not guilty Nov. 20 to fleeing cops and other charges. That’s when investigators searched him, found the narcotics and added new charges, authorities said. What more convenient place to get arrested than before a judge?

7. Garden City Man Accused of Mailing Poo to Ex-wife

Love stinks, as The J. Geils Band famously sang. But federal authorities alleged that Gerald Desiderio took that song a bit too literally when he reportedly mailed alimony checks smeared with poop to his ex-wife in Arizona. The 51-year-old Garden City man apparently took a cue from the likes of drug dealers who don’t realize they can get busted for dropping narcotics in the mail. The feds said Desiderio also mailed vulgar notes, “tasteless objects” and a photo of a knife with a serrated blade. He will face the charges in Arizona, although if there’s any upside to the charges being on the federal level, he won’t have to deal with “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” Joe Arpaio.

6. Drunk Driver Saved by Cops Before Train Hits Her Car

This one could have ended a lot worse. In a scene torn out of The Fugitive, a drunken driver mistakenly turned onto the Long Island Rail Road tracks in Bay Shore last spring, got stuck and had to be rescued by Suffolk County police officers moments before a train smashed into her car. Police had tried to radio ahead to get the train to stop, but there wasn’t enough time. Neither the officers, the driver nor anyone aboard the train were injured, but the Volkswagon was totaled. Oh yea, and the 43-year-old Islandia woman was arrested for DWI.

Suffolk police found this alligator in Mastic Beach Sept. 28.

5. Nine Alligators Found on Long Island in Six Weeks

Here’s the lone stupid crime on this list that remains unsolved. Were there more alligators dumped across Nassau and Suffolk counties before the temperatures dropped to sub-Everglades levels? Maybe. But now that winter’s in full swing, any baby gators that turn up next will likely be frozen to death. The tiny killing machines started popping up Sept. 28 in Mastic Beach. Others were found in Shirley, Wading River, Lake Ronkonkoma, Yaphank and two turned up in Baldwin in two days. The most recent one was discovered in Southampton on Nov. 11. Who knows how many more would’ve been found had Sandy not struck in the middle of this mysterious gator dumping spree.

4. Jason Kidd Nabbed for Hamptons DWI Crash

Jason Kidd in his Southampton police mugshot

What makes the NY Knicks’ point guard arrest stupider than any other drunken driving charge or celebrity brush with law enforcement? The 39-year-old NBA All Star had only signed a $9-million contract with the team 10 days before allegedly wrapping his SUV around a utility pole near his Water Mill home in July. Adding to the stupid timing of the allegations was that they came just as team owner James Dolan decided against matching the Houston Rockets $25-million contract offer for breakout star Jeremy Lin. Kidd’s fighting the charges.

3. Williston Park Man Charged With Shooting Girlfriend Over Zombies

People have strong feelings about the fictional zombie apocalypse. But none more so than The Walking Dead fan Jared Gurman, who Nassau police said was so adamant in his argument that the government can release a zombie virus that he shot his girlfriend of four years in the back outside his Willison Park home Dec. 4—about three weeks before the world didn’t end for the Mayan “apocalypse.” The woman survived and Gurman was charged with second-degree attempted murder. He’s being held on $1 million bail.

2. The Long Island Hot Dog Hooker

Catherine Scalia, aka the Long Island hot dog hooker.

This is one for the ages. Longtime stripper, bikini lover and tube-steak slinger Catherine Scalia, 45, propositioned undercover cops at her Baldwin hot dog truck last May. They charged her with prostitution when they showed up at her East Rockaway home. She argued she only was giving lap dances, not selling sex, then pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor prostitution charge and was sentenced to seven days time served. We’re not judging strippers or wiener salespeople here. What’s so stupid about this case—aside from the hilariously incongruous combination of professions—is that she was busted for doing the same thing in the same spot on Sunrise Highway years prior. And vowed to continue.

1. The Jones Beach Faked Death Plot

Sometimes people joke about faking their own death, starting their life over under an alias and living off the life insurance money. Most people have enough sense to know that it’s too ridiculous an idea for it to ever work. Then there’s Raymond Roth of Massapequa, who Nassau authorities said tried to do just that after allegedly cleaning out his wife’s bank account, putting his house up for sale and faking his own drowning at Jones Beach in August. He later turned up in Florida, sped back to LI when the alleged plot unraveled and turned himself in after a stop at the psych ward. He pleaded not guilty, along with his kid who’s accused of helping him. His wife’s filed for divorce.