Police address crime concerns in Valley Stream

Responding to a series of sexual assaults in Valley Stream that rattled the community, a coalition of civic organizations hosted a crime forum at the American Legion Hall on Sept. 12. More than 100 people attended, and heard from law enforcement officials from several agencies.

On Sept. 8, a Queens man was arrested in connection with two sexual assaults — the rape of a 60-year-old woman at Valley Stream State Park on Sept. 1, and the attack of a 30-year-old woman on Mill Road on Aug. 12.

“We did get a suspect,” said Lt. Anthony Astacio of the New York State Park Police. “We have him in custody, and we got him pretty fast.”

Astacio said that the successful investigation was a testament to cooperation among the State Park Police, the State Police and the Nassau County Police Department.

Police are still investigating a third attack, in Lynbrook on Aug. 12, about 20 minutes before the Mill Road incident. In that case, a man broke into a home on Lois Place and sexually assaulted a 58-year-old woman. He fled when a neighbor heard the woman’s cries for help.

The suspect in the other two cases, 16-year-old Nashane Peterkin, of Springfield Gardens, Queens, has not been charged in the Lynbrook attack. But police say there are similarities between the crimes, including the fact that the suspect was riding a bicycle in both incidents on Aug. 12. “I feel that in a short time, it will come to a conclusion,” said Detective Lt. Frank DeCicco, commander of the NCPD’s 4th Squad.

The crime forum was hosted by Envision Valley Stream, the North Valley Stream Neighborhood Association and the Mill Brook Civic Association. David Sabatino, president of Envision, was the moderator, and asked officials several questions that were based on overarching community concerns.