A passing motorist called 911 after discovering Adrian Roberts lying in the street on Jefferson Avenue at around 11 .m.. The 24-year-old Brentwood resident was pronounced dead at the scene and taken to the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Detectives are asking for witnesses, or anyone who has any information about the circumstances that preceded this incident, to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-220-TIPS.

Paul Rice, 21, was driving a 2004 Mitsubishi south on Park Avenue when he was pulled over Friday around 3:40 p.m. for failing to use his turn signal, police said. The officer spotted a burning marijuana cigarette in the center console and noticed a “strong smell of burning marijuana within the vehicle,” police said in a news release.

Also in the car was 21-year-old Alyssa Moore and their 2-year-old son, police said.

“Further investigation revealed that Moore and Rice had been smoking marijuana while traveling in the car,” police said.

Rice was charged under Leandra’s Law, which is aggravated DWI with a child passenger 15 years old or younger. He was also charged with DWI drugs, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of marijuana.

Moore was charged with criminal possession of marijuana and endangering the welfare of a child.

The child was released to relatives, police said.

Rice and Moore will be arraigned Saturday at First District Court in Central Islip.

Amanda Kosby (L) and Tara Riley (R) were arrested for heroin possession with their children in the car.

Two mothers who were allegedly in possession of heroin and who police said had gotten high earlier in the day Wednesday were arrested in East Patchogue after being discovered inside a parked car along with their children and open heroin bags, Suffolk County police said.

Two police officers were on patrol when they saw the two women—26-year-old Tara Riley of Medford and 27-year-old Amanda Kosby of North Bellport—sitting in a 2002 Ford Explorer in the parking lot of East Winds apartment complex on Montauk Highway at 9:30 p.m., police said.

Both women were allegedly in possession of “hypodermic instruments containing heroin,” police said. Riley’s 4-year-old daughter and Kosby’s 5-year-old son were in the back passengers seat, police said.

The two officers also found open bags of heroin on the front seat, police said, adding that the women said they had gotten high earlier in the day.

Riley and Kosby were charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminally possessing a hypodermic instrument. Both women will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip Thursday.

Both children were released into the custody of family members, police said. Suffolk County Child Protective Services was also notified.

Craig Cohen (Suffolk County Police Department)

A Wyandanch Memorial High School assistant principal was arrested Monday for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to students and faculty members, Suffolk County police said.

Craig Cohen, 47, was arrested Monday morning as he left his Northport home, police said. He was charged with three counts of aggravated harassment and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Cohen was held overnight at the First Precinct and will be arraigned Tuesday at First District Court in Central Islip.

Police said an investigation revealed that Cohen, who has been employed at the school for eight years, sent “several inappropriate texts to various students and faculty members.”

Some of the messages were “sexual in nature,” police said in a news release. The texts were sent in February and March of this year, according to police.

Wyandanch Union Free School District Superintendent Pless M. Dickerson said in a statement posted on the district’s website that school officials received word of the alleged inappropriate messages after school hours on Monday.

Without referencing Cohen by name, the statement said, “the staff member has been reassigned immediately and further appropriate action will be taken by the school District pending the results of the investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department.”

Police are asking anyone who may have information regarding this case to call 631-854-8126.

Nassau and Suffolk County police departments will be stepping up sobriety checkpoints across Long Island in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day Weekend drunk drivers.

Authorities across Long Island are taking precautionary measures in preparation for expected drunk drivers during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday weekend.

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Police Commissioner Thomas Dale said this week that additional officers will be searching for DWI violators as part of the police department’s “STOP-DWI” program, which will run through the holiday weekend.

Suffolk police is also cracking down on drunk drivers. The department will disperse officers from all seven precincts and the Highway Patrol Bureau to county roads.

“Drivers should expect to see increased enforcement on the roadways throughout the weekend,” Suffolk police said in a news release.

New York State police said it will increase patrols beginning Friday and will add sobriety checkpoints throughout the Island. Police will also be keeping a close eye on anyone selling alcohol to minors.

“We are starting our enforcement St. Patrick’s Day weekend with full knowledge there will be numerous parties and events where alcohol may be consumed, and we are asking everyone who drinks to designate a driver or arrange safe transportation in advance,” said New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico.

Last year, troopers made 504 DWI arrest and issued 11,663 tickets.

While it is common for people to drink in celebration of a holiday weekend, officials urge everyone not to be careless, and rather have an alternate plan in case of intoxication.

“We want you to have a good time,” Mangano said. “However we ask that you make responsible and smart decisions during your celebrations, and plan accordingly so everyone can return home safely to their loved ones.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 31 percent of traffic deaths in the year 2010 were alcohol related. While drunk driving continues to be a national epidemic, Mangano and Dale said they are committed to bringing down that statistic.

“There will be additional police patrols all around Nassau County,” Mangano said, “and chances are if you drive drunk you will be arrested.”

Anthony Capuano

A Selden Fire Department volunteer’s house went up in flames Tuesday night when a driver allegedly impaired by drugs crashed into it, igniting a blaze that was fanned by a broken gas line, a fire department official said.

“It was a pretty hot fire,” said Selden Fire Department Chief Joe Leavens. “With a broken gas line, it was a gas-fed fire.”

Suffolk County police said the blaze on Choate Avenue was sparked by the crash, which occurred just before 7:15 p.m. The driver, 35-year-old Anthony Capuano of Selden, who pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday on charges of driving while ability impaired by drugs and reckless endangerment, lost control of a red pickup truck, police said, and crashed into a natural gas line in the home.

The firefighter’s family—his wife and two young children—were in an upstairs bathroom when they heard an “explosion” and then ran out to safety, Leavens said.

The fire department responded three minutes after the call and found the flames burning the exterior of the home before it made its way into the house. The crash knocked down electric lines and ruptured both the gas line and water supply. The truck was also fully engulfed by flames. There was “extensive damage” to the house, Leavens said.

The gas line rupture required firefighters to wait for National Grid to shut off the gas before they were able to fully get the blaze under control. The fire was put out 45 minutes after the incident, officials said.

The firefighter, Michael Cosgrove, a 17-year veteran of the Selden Fire Department, was training when the call came in, Leavens said. The caller identified the wrong address but volunteers quickly realized they were dealing with a member’s home.

“They’re upset because they lost everything,” Leavens said of the family. He described Cosgrove as “angry” because the fire was caused by “someone’s stupidity.”

“We’re like family so whatever it takes we’ll do,” the fire chief said of assisting Cosgrove’s family.

A judge set Capuano’s bail at $20,000 cash and $100,000 bond.

“I got a call from several members of the community supporting Mr. Capuano,” the driver’s lawyer said of his client who was wearing a black jacket and blue and black pajamas during his arraignment.

Results from Capuano’s blood test regarding the alleged drugs in his system are still pending.

-With Timothy Bolger  

Marvin Gonzalez, 33, was standing outside his home on Stony Brook Road just after 8:30 p.m., police said, when he was shot once in the head and once in the leg. Police said the bullet grazed his head.

Gonzalez was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Detectives are asking anyone with information regarding this shooting to call the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8451 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.

Detectives are investigating the crash that occurred on Route 112 in Coram just after 6 p.m. on Monday. Police said Betty Lincon was driving her 2001 Chevrolet south when she “apparently lost control of her vehicle” south on Pauls Path, police said. The car crossed over the double yellow lines and into the northbound lane and struck a 2011 Nissan head-on, police said.

Lincon was pronounced dead at the scene by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s office, police said. The other driver, 45-year-old Tanya Sydnor-Holmes of Bay Shore, was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Both cars were impounded for a safety check.

Detectives are asking anyone with information regarding the crash to call the Sixth Squad at 631-854-8652.

David Thompson (SCPD)

An alleged drunk driver traveling at 100 mph took Suffolk County police on a high-speed chase early Thursday morning, which ended when the man slammed into a tractor-trailer in Nassau County, police said.

David Thompson, 32, of Far Rockaway, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, reckless driving and speeding.

The high-speed pursuit began just before midnight Thursday when highway patrol officers at Route 111 on the Long Island Expressway saw Thompson’s vehicle traveling at speeds of 100 mph or more, police said. Officers followed and attempted a traffic stop but Thompson refused, police said, and continued driving west on the expressway into Nassau.

Nassau County police joined in on the pursuit and also attempted a traffic stop, but Thompson never stopped, police said.

He eventually approached the construction zone at Exit 43, which is closed. Thompson decided to take the service road but spotted traffic and tried to re-enter the LIE before crashing into the tractor-trailer and a Suffolk patrol car, police said.

Thompson, who suffered a minor injury to his hand, was the only one injured in the crash.

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.