Capri case controversy

Capri Lynbrook Motor Inn owners' defense argues mayor appointed ‘tainted’ committee

Police testify about drug arrests, overdose

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At the third hearing to determine whether the Capri Lynbrook Motor Inn’s room-rental license should be revoked, lawyers representing the motel owners argued last week that the committee appointed by Mayor Bill Hendrick — comprising three of his trustees — could not be impartial.

Lawyers Jonathan Edelstein and Benedict Gullo said there was an appearance of impropriety among the committee members — comprising Village Deputy Mayor Alan Beach and Trustees Ann Marie Reardon and Hilary Becker — because they work with the mayor. The lawyers referenced quotes from a March Fios 1 report in which Hendrick said he wanted to end a “two-decade-long neighborhood nuisance” and that the motel “is not what Lynbrook needs and we want them gone.”

“I would submit that this would cause a reasonable observer to doubt whether this hearing is fair and impartial,” Edelstein argued. “That the appointment process of this panel is tainted, and that I would object to any further hearings before this panel, and that I would submit that any future hearings take place before a neutral panel or a neutral arbitrator who is not appointed by the mayor.”

Capri General Manager Joe Pizzuto and Harry Wagner, one of the motel’s seven owners, attended the April 6 hearing at Village Hall.

According to village code, the mayor must appoint three trustees for a license revocation hearing. Hendrick chose the committee members in September, and police testimony chronicling drug-related arrests began in March.

Gullo said that the Capri owners are entitled to appear before an unbiased committee whose members don’t work for the mayor. “Under these circumstances, there’s a clear appearance of impropriety,” he said.

Beach, who serves as chairman of the committee, spoke on behalf of the trustees and said that he has shied away from listening or watching the mayor express his thoughts about the Capri and its owners. “We are elected by the people,” Beach said. “We do not consider the mayor’s comments to be ours, and we are fair and impartial. … Yes, we are involved with the mayor, but our views differ many times. And I intend to be fair and impartial in this hearing.”

Beach ruled that the hearing would continue as planned. Village Attorney Peter Ledwith then called on four members of the Lynbrook Police Department, who testified about incidents at the motel in late 2016 — which included seven drug-related arrests and a fatal heroin overdose.

Officer Donald Capitali testified that he responded to a call at the Capri on Aug. 31, and encountered Michelle Mallach, who told the police that she had found her boyfriend, Rodney Wood, unresponsive in their room. She also told the officers that they used heroin and drank alcohol earlier that evening.

According to Capitali, the police found Wood unresponsive on the motel room floor. Capitali said he administered CPR and Narcan, and Wood was transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital, where he later died. A glass pipe was recovered from the room and sent to the Nassau County Property Bureau for destruction, Capitali testified.

Edelstein and Gullo argued that it was not hotel management’s fault that the overdose occurred, because the room had no surveillance cameras, so they were not aware of drug use. Gullo added that any number of incidents — including a stroke or heart attack — could have caused Wood’s death. An autopsy was never completed.

Ledwith ruled out other causes of death. “It’s called drawing the appropriate inference,” he said, “and a heart attack isn’t the appropriate inference.”

Police Detective Robert Harrison, Sgt. Christopher Skartsiaris and Officer John Stawiki also testified, recounting six marijuana-related arrests and one for cocaine possession.

The arrests all occurred when police officers pulled over drivers who were entering or leaving the motel for various infractions. The defense argued that since the drugs were found in the cars, there was no evidence that they were purchased or used at the motel, and there was no way for any Capri employee to see the guests using the drugs. They also maintained that the narcotics could have been bought before the guests came to the motel.

The next hearing was scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m. at Village Hall. Ledwith said that the prosecution planned to call a hotel expert, and then would allow the attorneys representing the Capri to call their own witnesses.

Ledwith insisted that the committee was impartial, and said that the Capri owners would have the right to plead their case to the Board of Zoning Appeals if they lose their rental license. He added that he would not be shocked if the committee’s ruling went against the mayor’s opinion.

“It’s no secret what the mayor thinks about it, but the board has an obligation of keeping an open mind and deciding the case based only on the evidence that’s provided,” Ledwith said, “not based on anybody else’s opinion.”