News Briefs: D.A. Spota, Aide Indicted In Cover Up
/Feds: Suffolk D.A. Spota, Aide Helped Burke Cover Up
Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota and one of his top aides who is from Northport were indicted Wednesday on charges related to the attempted cover up of the 2012 assault of a handcuffed suspect by former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, according to the indictment.
Both Spota, 76, of Mount Sinai, and Christopher McPartland, 51, of Northport, the chief of investigations and chief of the government corruption bureau of the Suffolk DA’s office, were arraigned Wednesday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Leonard D. Wexler at the federal courthouse in Central Islip.
The four-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charging both Spota and McPartland with conspiracy to tamper with witnesses and obstruct an official proceeding; witness tampering and obstruction of an official proceeding; obstruction of justice; and accessory after the fact to the deprivation of civil rights.
The two men are accused of agreeing “to conceal” Burke’s role in the December 2012 assault of Christopher Loeb, according to a federal news release. Burke pleaded guilty following a consequent investigation and is now serving a 46-month federal sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lara Treinis Gatz and John Durham are in charge of the prosecution of Spota and McPartland.
This story is developing.
Man Stole $49K Rolex Watch, Cops Say
Police said the man pictured stole a Rolex Skydweller watch from Tourneau in the Walt Whitman Shops on Oct. 2. Photo/SCPD
Suffolk police are trying to identify and locate a man they say stole a $48,850 watch from a Huntington Station store earlier this month.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Second Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to track down the man, who police said entered Tourneau in the Walt Whitman Shops on Oct. 2, asked to try on a Rolex Skydweller watch and then ran out of the store with it.
Police said the man fled the parking lot in a waiting gray Toyota Prius with a Pennsylvania license plate that was driven by another man.
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.
PD: Woman Stole $350 In Supplies
Police are looking for the woman pictured, who police said stole about $350 worth of craft supplies from Hobby Lobby in Commack. Photo/SCPD
A woman stole around $350 worth of supplies from a Commack store last month, according to Suffolk police, and Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate her.
The woman stole craft supplies from Hobby Lobby at 124 Veterans Highway on Sept. 9 at around 1:15 p.m., police said. She placed supplies in a large plastic bag and left the store without paying.
She is described as white in her late 20s or early 30s with a medium build.
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.
