The people of Williston Park met at the village hall Saturday to discuss a string of burglaries that occurred over Memorial Day weekend — the first so far this year.
Hector Bourren, deputy commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Department in Williston Park, said that over the holiday weekend there were two burglaries on Cushing Avenue, one on Stratford Avenue and an attempted break-in on Princeton street. Bourren along with Commanding Officer Robert Musetich fielded questions about the ongoing investigation at the meeting.
Musetich and Bourren said they had some leads and have developed people of interest but were not at liberty to reveal any identifiers as of yet. They said they were processing evidence and that making this public could compromise the investigation.
“We don’t rush out to put information out there,” Bourren said. The two officers believe the same person committed all four crimes.
Mayor Paul Ehrbar noted how effective the police in the area have been in the weeks following the burglaries. Doreen Ehrbar, his wife and a former mayor, is the coordinator for Williston Park’s Neighborhood Watch program, giving out decals to place in windows in residential neighborhoods throughout the village. She is encouraging village residents to become block captains in the program.
“You need to watch out for your neighbors,” Doreen Ehrbar said.
The 3rd Precinct officers said they have evidence, but exactly what they have is not clear. They offered an official checklist for residents to stay safe. This includes resetting automatic light timers because a dark house is an unoccupied house to a prospective burglar, not leaving the house keys in obvious places like the mailbox or under the doormat, writing down plate numbers and descriptions of vehicles and suspects, and using other means of preventing future burglaries and being aware of odd occurrences.
The officers said these were the first instances of burglaries in the village in 2019. Among the items stolen were jewelry, electronics and an iPad. The officer’s checklist also includes making an itemized list of everything a person owns. The officers and the neighborhood watch program even recommend having trusted neighbors pick up all mail, newspapers and deliveries daily and parking in a neighbor’s driveway when they’re not home.
Residents at the meeting raised concerns about a suspicious individual roaming through the neighborhood. A significant amount of attention was put on a 5-foot-10 male with a grey pickup truck.
Ehrbar, confident in the abilities of the village’s police department, said, “The point of this meeting is to have everyone calm down.”
He and the department want the community to help each other and get the word out if there’s any more suspicious behavior.
Bob Mitchell, president of the Williston Park Civic Association, said the meeting was worthwhile and commended the mayor’s ability to put the people of the village at ease.
