Crime watch: Franklin Square, Elmont

Ex-Elmont man pleads guilty to animal cruelty

A former Elmont resident, who now lives in New Cassel, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and other charges last week, after an emaciated pit bull in his Elmont apartment nearly four months ago, according to the Nassau County Police Department.

According to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, on Jan. 5, police were called to a domestic disturbance at an apartment on Biltmore Avenue in Elmont, where Jermel Miller, 33, was living at the time.

While there, they found a very thin 3-year-old pit bull, Bronco, she said.
Rice said that Bronco’s ribs, spine, and hips were clearly visible through his fur, and he had open sores on his paws. The dog’s toenails were so long that they curled under his paws and he needed help to stand, she added.
When cops tried to arrest Miller for animal cruelty, Rice said he “violently resisted.”

Bronco was taken to Central Veterinary Group in Valley Stream, where he was treated for malnutrition, a skin infection and moderate dental disease. At the veterinary center, Bronco was weighed in at only 29 pounds — more than 30 pounds less than a healthy weight for a 3-year-old pit bull, according to local veterinarians.

“It is incredibly sad to know that this defendant watched an innocent animal wasting away, yet refused to simply open a can of food for him,” Rice said in a statement. “Luckily for Bronco, the quick thinking of police officers and the expert work of dedicated medical professionals have given him back his health and a new lease on life with a family that will provide him with a safe and healthy home.”

Rice said that Miller was ordered by Judge Sharon Gianelli to serve six months in jail for animal cruelty and resisting arrest, and he will serve a full year due to violating the terms of his parole from a prior assault and attempted burglary conviction.

As part of his plea, he is prohibited from owning, harboring or having custody or control of any animals for five years, she added.

According to Rice, Bronco has recovered, putting weight back on, and is currently living in a new, loving home.

Miller pleaded guilty to overdriving, torturing and injuring animals, failure to provide proper sustenance, resisting arrest and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

According to Rice, Christine Guida of the Animal Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Unit Chief ADA Jed Painter. Miller is represented by Joseph Coluccio.

Cops: 2 men rob Elmont woman at gunpoint

Two men in a red Honda Civic robbed a woman at gunpoint in Elmont on April 17, at 11:30 p.m., according to the Nassau County Police Department's 5th Precinct.

According to detectives, the 30-year-old woman had just arrived at her home on Norfeld Boulevard in Elmont, when she observed a red Honda Civic with Massachusetts registration plates pull up to her.        

An unknown black man — described as 5 feet and 8 inches tall, 30-33 years old with a medium build, wearing a rugby shirt and blue jeans — exited the passenger side and asked for directions, police said, and when the woman replied that she wasn't familiar with the location he was referring to, a different black man exited the vehicle, displaying a handgun.

The second man has been described as 6 feet and two inches tall, 30-33 years old with a medium build and goatee, wearing a brown T-shirt and blue jeans.

When the second suspect demanded money, the woman retrieved an unknown amount of U.S. currency from her home. The woman's 57-year-old father then came out of the home to investigate, police said, and the subjects entered the vehicle and fled the scene in an unknown direction. At that time, the woman discovered that her cell phone was missing, police said.

Patient sentenced in attack on local nurse

Marie Sweeney was working as a nurse at Frankliin Hospital in Valley Stream on Sept. 10, 2010, when  a psychiatric patient attacked her with a broken chair leg, leaving her blinded in her left eye. Sweeney was moderating a group therapy session, when Donte Oakes, 23, of Springfield Gardens, entered the room with the chair leg hidden in his shirt, she said. She had crawled under a coffee table to protect herself during the scuffle.

Oakes pleaded guilty a month ago to first-degree assault for attacking Sweeney, and was sentenced to serve 11 years in prison by Nassau County Judge William Donnino. Oakes’ sentencing hearing was held April 16.

Sweeney said she currently suffers from head and neck pain, and vertigo, and has trouble driving due to her left-eye blindness.

Days after the attack in 2010, dozens of nurses from Franklin Hospital, as well as politicians and union officials, gathered outside of the medical center in an effort to draw attention to workplace violence committed against nurses.