DA: Undercover Cop Stops Home Invasion Of Reputed Drug Dealer In Farmingville
FARMINGVILLE, NY (CBSNewYork) - Three men are facing criminal charges after a home invasion in Farmingville did not go as planned, Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota announced Tuesday.
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Two suspected gang members had apparently planned to break into a unit at the Island Estates condominium complex occupied by a reputed heroin dealer to rob him of drugs and money.
Spota said an undercover police officer infiltrated the plan last month.
"It was a dangerous operation," he said.
Joshua A. Whitfield, 26, of Huntington, and Seyquan Patron, 24, of Mastic Beach, are facing attempted burglary and weapons charges. They are in jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond.
The accused dealer, 29-year-old Lonnie Walker, has been charged with fourth-degree possession of a controlled substance.
Spota said detectives seized 140 decks of packaged heroin during a search of Walker's condo, as well as cash and a quantity of marijuana.
Home invasions have increased dramatically in the past year and Spota links community violence to the increase of homes becoming lucrative drug dens invaded by brazen criminals.
Spota believes innocent people could have been hurt if the plan had not been foiled.
"This particular case could have been far worse had it been either the wrong house or innocent bystanders. People easily could have been shot," Spota said Tuesday. "Especially when these homes are so close together."
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Spota said in one case, a young boy watching television in his home was shot in the head after gunfire erupted in the street.
CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan reports the scourge of heroin and prescription drugs claims 50 lives a year on Long Island and is turning thousands of young people into addicts, ruining futures and shattering families.
"Heroin almost took my life away because of the woman who was on it and broke my family's heart," P.J. Harrington said.
Harrington was left for dead after stepping from a curb in Deer Park with two friends when police say he was rammed by a driver allegedly high on heroin who'd stuffed hypodermic needles in her underwear.
The Harrington family is attending a ceremony Tuesday night honoring the EMT's who helped save P.J. The alleged driver who struck the boy will be in court Wednesday fighting to be released on bail.
Jeffrey Reynolds, head of Long Island's Council on Drug Dependence, said the area is in an "opiate crisis."
Experts say heroin has dropped in price, increased in purity and is extremely easy to obtain.
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