Men Wanted For Stealing DJ Equipment In Hauppauge

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the men who stole DJ equipment from a van in Hauppauge last month. 

Two men stole several items of DJ equipment from a 2005 Chevrolet van that was parked in a parking lot on Smithtown Bypass on July 1 at approximately 2:20 p.m. The items include a laptop, adapters, drills, headsets and microphones. 

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

 Authority:  D/Sgt. Dean Joseph CC# 15-381088

Fourth Squad detectives     CW# 15-242/RD

Police Seeking Help In Identifying Remains Found In East Setauket

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the woman whose remains were found in East Setauket. 

On March 22, 2015, human remains were found on the Greenway Bicycle Path in East Setauket. Detectives believe the remains were at this location for approximately a year.  The woman is believed to have been white or Hispanic, 30 to 50 years old, between 5 feet 3 inches tall and 5 feet 9 inches tall.  She had poor dental work. 

Detectives are asking anyone with information on the identity of this woman to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest on any crime. Anyone with information about the identity of the woman in the sketch above is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. 

Online: WWW.TIPSUBMUT.COM

Text: SCPD and your message to CRIMES (274637)

Authority:  Det/Lt. Beyrer CC# 15-175646

Homicide Section     CW# 15-249/MK

St. James Resident Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud Ordered To Pay $450,567

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced today that a Suffolk County businessman has pleaded guilty to sales tax fraud.

Michael Hall, 58, of Saint James, NY, is the owner of Motor Works Collision & Car Care Center, Inc., located at 1136 Suffolk Ave., Brentwood, NY.  He pleaded guilty before the Honorable Stephen Braslow in Suffolk County Court. 

Hall failed to remit to New York State $176,333 in sales tax he collected from customers on sales totaling $2,317,417. He collected the sales tax between February, 2009 and August, 2011.

Hall pleaded guilty and was ordered by the court to pay not only the sales tax he owed, but also penalty and interest, bringing the total in restitution to $450,567. 

“Collecting tax dollars from a customer, then putting those dollars in your own pocket instead of remitting them to the State, is a serious crime,” said Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Jerry Boone.  “We will continue to work closely with our local law enforcement partners to create a level playing field for honest business owners, and protect New Yorkers from paying the cost of tax evasion.”

The case was investigated by the Tax Department’s Criminal Investigations Division and prosecuted by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

Each year, New York State businesses collect nearly $25 billion in sales tax from their customers. Businesses transmit the funds to the Tax Department for state programs and distribution to local governments.  The vast majority (96%) of sales tax is remitted voluntarily; the remaining 4% is collected through criminal investigations, audits and collection activities.   

Taxpayers who suspect a business is not remitting sales tax can report tax evasion and fraud online or by calling 518-457-0578. The information is kept confidential.

Commack SD Goes On Defense After NYS Audit

“As you may know, the NY State Comptroller’s office, by law, must periodically audit all municipalities including school districts. Commack UFSD was recently audited as a part of this routine process and received the final audit report late last week. First and foremost, we are happy to report that the audit did not find any instances of illegal activity or fraud of any kind.” Commack School District’s response to NYS Comptroller DiNapoli’s audit.

The above statement is part of an email blast sent out by the Commack School District Sunday, August 2, 2015. The email is a response to an audit performed by NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office which resulted in a message from the auditor stating, “The Board and District officials need to improve oversight of the District’s budget process to adequately manage the District’s financial condition.” 

One of the problems mentioned in the auditor’s report is that District budgets were approved which overestimated expenditures. According to the report in the budget years 2011 - 2014 the district budgeted $24.8 million more than it spent. 

“The District’s practice of consistently planning operating deficits by appropriating unrestricted funds that were not needed to finance operations in effect caused the District to exceed the statutory limitation of unrestricted fund balance of no more than 4 percent of the ensuing year’s appropriations. As a result, the District retained significantly more than the amount of unrestricted funds allowed. Overestimating expenditures and unnecessarily appropriating fund balance caused available fund balance to appear to be within the legal limit. As a result, the Board and District officials have withheld significant funds from productive use and have not adequately presented the District’s financial condition to its residents.” NYS Office of Comptroller.

Calling it a philosophical difference in the budget process the District’s response denied wrongdoing, “Diligent cost-saving measures enacted by our District officials and staff have resulted in significant savings each year (see chart below). We go to great efforts not to spend the money the residents of this community entrust to us.  Further, the District returns every dollar not spent in the budget to the taxpayers to keep the tax levy as low as possible, and to continue to offer the multitude of programs and services that Commack is known for, and the community expects.” 

Amount Saved / Year                            $Returned to Taxpayers in Budgeting Process 

$5.7 million / 2011-12	$5.7 million / 2012-13
$9.677 million / 2012-13	$9.677 million / 2013-14
$8.332 milion / 2013-14	$8.332 million / 2014-15
The amount saved each year through strong budgeting practices and the District’s cost-saving actions is returned to the taxpayers the following year. None of the unspent money is retained or put into reserve funds by the District - all money is returned to the taxpayers. (From District’s email) In response to the audit, Dr. Donald A. James, Superintendent of Schools wrote, “As recommended, the District will review the expenditure budget areas and the variables affecting such discussed in the audit report (regular and special education instruction and employee benefits) in depth and detail to assure reasonable estimates are presented.” A Board of Education meeting will be held Thursday, August 6 at Commack HS.

Theater Review - "Othello"

THEATER REVIEW

Othello by William Shakespeare - Produced by: The Arena Players Repertory Company - Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur 

It’s a common misconception that all of William Shakespeare’s plays are magnificent works of art. Not so. Like the products of any prolific playwright, some of The Bard’s plays are better than others. Granted, Shakespeare far and away leads the pack of those who have written for the stage in the English language, but while some of his works smack of pure genius, others are only mediocre.

Othello fits somewhere in between. But what this lengthy, contrived play does offer is a platform for several individual virtuoso performances … and in particular, that of Iago, the hateful villain who reigns among Shakespearian anti-heroes as the most despicable in a long line of heavies. 

Let it be said at the outset that the Arena Players’ prodigy, Dean Schildkraut, expertly leads a cast of actors most of whom are surprisingly effective in this visually modernized version of Othello, the Moor of Venice (which title, director Frederic DeFeis has changed to ‘Othello, The Black of Angola,’ probably to accommodate the 20^th Century setting)

Dean Schildkraut Excels in OthelloBe that as it may, we all know what Othello is … the tragic tale of a dark-skinned General (Othello – Mark Swinson) … who secretly marries a white woman (Desdemona – Mary Caulfield) … and is provoked to jealousy-inspired murder by a vengeful underling (Iago – Dean Schildkraut) … who’s been passed over for promotion.

Of course, there’s more to Iago’s motivation than his merely being overlooked for advancement; indeed Shakespeare never clearly defined what drives the nasty conniver. And to the brilliant Schildkraut’s credit, the actor arranges for Iago to keep his own counsel in the matter, leaving the audience to wonder if indeed the evil character himself ever knew, what propelled him.

It’s hardly any wonder that the likes of Barrymore, Rathbone, Plummer … and my favorite, Michael MacLiammóir … all went to such lengths to be cast as Iago at one time or another in their storied careers. Because though the play might be titled Othello, it’s driven by Iago. The Moor could conceivably be played by a tree stump when being emotionally torn apart by his young (28-year-old) ensign … but without Iago’s keen insight into what makes a jealous individual tick, there simply would be no play.

Dean Schildkraut’s remarkable virtuosity notwithstanding, no one attending this unusual version of Othello during the next month should expect the same degree of thespian expertise from Mark Swinson. As the battle-tested General he is plainly in over his head. Swinson has no idea what to do with his hands … he substitutes swagger for regality … and his voice is thin to the point of inaudibility. Evan Donnellan, the duped Lieutenant who plays Cassio so convincingly, would have been a better choice to hold down the title role.

Mary Caulfield’s Desdemona is beautifully rendered (what a lovely singing voice the young woman has!) … and she and her maid, Emilia (JesAlmeida), play off one another as if the parts were written for them. The prostitute, Bianca (Luisa Bikowski) provides a nice touch with something I’d never seen in previous mountings of this play … a Salome-like dance that more than establishes her ‘professional’ credentials. Such a thing would have been impossible in Elizabethan England, of course, when female roles were filled by young boys.

The lovesick Roderigo (Tyler Williams), so essential in establishing Iago’s devious nature, interprets his part properly, thereby rounding-out the six principal players on whom the tragedy turns.

Prospective attendees heading to the Vanderbilt Museum’s breathtaking courtyard theater between now and August 30, should not be dissuaded by the failure of one player in a cast where so many excel. Several years ago I saw James Earl Jones virtually ruin a production of Othello, but it was Christopher Plummer’s sterling Iago that I remember most vividly when recalling that night at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1982.

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Award-winning writer, Jeb Ladouceur is the author of ten novels, and his theater and book reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. Ladouceur’s newest thriller THE QUANTUM SYNDROME is patterned on the Atlanta child murders of the 80s. His eleventh book, THE SEQUEL, will explore the odd relationship between Harper Lee and Truman Capote.