This is very disturbing!!!
3 teens arrested for allegedly defacing 9/11 memorial
Nassau police arrested three teens yesterday morning after they allegedly defaced a memorial to a Port Authority Police Department captain who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The vandals are accused of toppling a granite monument to Massapequa native Kathy Mazza. The Farmingdale memorial and park were dedicated to her five years ago.
Members of Mazza's family called for aggressive prosecution of the three, whom police identified as Farmingdale High School students, and said the Town of Oyster Bay should consider moving the memorial to a safer spot.
The defendants, who were charged with second-degree criminal mischief and entering a closed park, are Shane Magnani, 17, of North Iowa Avenue in North Massapequa, Jonathan Koppie, 16, of High Street in Farmingdale, and Walter Palm, 17, of Rose Street in Massapequa Park.
The teens, who were charged as adults, were arrested on Elm Avenue, near the monument, at 1:45 a.m. and were arraigned at District Court in Hempstead, police said.
Mazza's father, John Mazza of North Massapequa, stood near the downed monument yesterday and said, 'Even an animal wouldn't do this.'
Mazza said the town should move the memorial, which is in a small park in a residential area, to 'somewhere busier where people can keep an eye on it,' such as Allen Ellsworth Town Park.
The memorial consists of a heart-shaped garden, an American flag, a brick walkway, several benches and the granite monument, which includes the names of Mazza and 36 other Port Authority officers killed on the Sept. 11.
Yesterday, the five-foot-tall monument lay on the red brick, surrounded by bits of shattered glass casing. A pair of small metal supporting poles appeared to have been severed. Footprints were visible on the monument.
Nassau Det. Sgt. Vincent Quigley said the damage is estimated near $2,500. The teens, if convicted, could be forced to pay for repairs, he said.
Second-degree criminal mischief is a felony punishable by up to seven years in jail, Quigley said. However, he said, it is unlikely the teens would face the maximum sentence because they have clean records.
Nassau police arrested three teens yesterday morning after they allegedly defaced a memorial to a Port Authority Police Department captain who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The vandals are accused of toppling a granite monument to Massapequa native Kathy Mazza. The Farmingdale memorial and park were dedicated to her five years ago.
Members of Mazza's family called for aggressive prosecution of the three, whom police identified as Farmingdale High School students, and said the Town of Oyster Bay should consider moving the memorial to a safer spot.
The defendants, who were charged with second-degree criminal mischief and entering a closed park, are Shane Magnani, 17, of North Iowa Avenue in North Massapequa, Jonathan Koppie, 16, of High Street in Farmingdale, and Walter Palm, 17, of Rose Street in Massapequa Park.
The teens, who were charged as adults, were arrested on Elm Avenue, near the monument, at 1:45 a.m. and were arraigned at District Court in Hempstead, police said.
Mazza's father, John Mazza of North Massapequa, stood near the downed monument yesterday and said, 'Even an animal wouldn't do this.'
Mazza said the town should move the memorial, which is in a small park in a residential area, to 'somewhere busier where people can keep an eye on it,' such as Allen Ellsworth Town Park.
The memorial consists of a heart-shaped garden, an American flag, a brick walkway, several benches and the granite monument, which includes the names of Mazza and 36 other Port Authority officers killed on the Sept. 11.
Yesterday, the five-foot-tall monument lay on the red brick, surrounded by bits of shattered glass casing. A pair of small metal supporting poles appeared to have been severed. Footprints were visible on the monument.
Nassau Det. Sgt. Vincent Quigley said the damage is estimated near $2,500. The teens, if convicted, could be forced to pay for repairs, he said.
Second-degree criminal mischief is a felony punishable by up to seven years in jail, Quigley said. However, he said, it is unlikely the teens would face the maximum sentence because they have clean records.
