Crime & Safety

Crimes Nearby: Sex Offender Ousted from School Zone After Community Outcry

The following arrest information was supplied by the Suffolk County Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction.

Three Village

Normal Torgersen IV, 41, of Setauket, was arrested June 18 at his home in Setauket and charged with second-degree forgery and fourth-degree grand larceny, both felonies. Police said Torgersen stole a check and wrote it out for $100 and then forged the signature on it. They also said he stole a credit card and charged gasoline. Law enforcement officials previously issued three bench warrants. Torgersen is due back in court June 28.

Smithtown

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Sex Offender Ousted from School Zone After Community Outcry

Cops have relocated a Level 3 sex offender on parole after he was found to have moved within feet of Smithtown East High School, prompting outraged community members to raise alarms.

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According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services website, Jae Claassen, 23, was living at 151 Northern Blvd. in St. James, which according to MapQuest records is within .21 miles of Smithtown East High School. Claassen was convicted in Sept. of 2008 of a Level 3 crime.

Riverhead

• A Riverhead resident and downtown shop owner pleaded not guilty Thursday after authorities alleged in a 60-count indictment that he orchestrated a scheme involving his wife and two dozen food stamp holders, robbing the federal government of over $670,000 in the process.

Ravinder Parkash stood silent in State Supreme Court on Thursday in front of Judge Steven Hudson, who ordered Parkash to be held on $250,000 cash bail or $500,000 bond. But authorities said that beyond the silent front of his East Main Street Snack Shop and Gulf Station, a criminal was operating, checking out big money for himself.

• Michael Bagley, 23, of Blue Point, was arrested on June 24 after he police said he robbed a man at knifepoint several weeks ago.

According to Riverhead police, a Carle Place resident reported that while sitting in his car at 5:05 a.m. on June 6, a man with a knife came up to him and demanded that he get back into his house, where he reportedly robbed him of $300. Police said the man, wearing a black puffy jacket, then fled on a bicycle toward Segal Avenue. According to the police report, Bagley fled before police got there.

Suffolk County police arrested Bagley on June 12 on separate charges. On June 24, Riverhead police brought him in on charges of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, both felonies, as well as criminal trespass in the second degree, a misdemeanor.

• An ex-convict from Bethpage is going back to jail after pleading guilty to robbing a Wading River bank in February of 2012.

Robert Fornal Jr. pleaded guilty to the sole count of third-degree robbery against him, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. A spokesman said Fornal is set to be sentenced to two-and-a-half to five years in state prison on July 26.

Fornal robbed the Bridgehampton National Bank at the corner of Wading River-Manor Road and Route 25A on Feb. 16, 2012. He escaped the day of the robbery and eluded local authorities, though he was caught by Nassau County police shortly thereafter for reportedly stealing jewelry and chimney caps from homes in East Meadow, and was later charged by Riverhead police.


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