Beginning August 3rd, Family & Children’s Association, Long Island’s human service agency, will be accepting donations of new, back-to-school supplies and clothing.  This Back-to-School Drive is part of an annual effort by Family & Children’s to help financially struggling Nassau County families make ends meet and prepare area children for a successful school year.  This year, the agency is asking everyone to consider donating sneakers, sweatshirts and jeans along with the pencils, backpacks and notebooks they’ve given in the past. Or, if you don’t have time to shop but want to help, visit www.familyandchildrens.org/donate and select “back to school” as your gift designation.    Donations can be brought to: Family & Children’s, 100 E. Old Country Rd., Suite 25, 2ndfloor. Mineola, NY.

MISCHIEF AND MAYHEM: THE POLICE REPORT

POLICE arrested a 19 year-old Garden City man on August 4th for allegedly possessing and selling marijuana and Xanex... PO WALSH assisted Freeport village police in arresting a 53 year-old Freeport man at his Garden City office. Police say he had committed an assault earlier in the day in Freeport... TWO COMPUTERS, photography equipment and cash was taken from two vehicles parked on Clinch Avenue on the night of August 4th. The loss is estimated at $10,000... SOMEONE STOLE two wallets containing cash and credit cards from an office at Garden City Community Church on August 3rd... A BICYCLE worth $200 was taken from the garage at a Balston Street residence on August 5th... GARDEN CITY POLICE assisted Nassau County Police in the arrest of a 39 year-old Massapequa man for allegedly robbing six banks recently, including two that morning in Massapequa and Lynbrook. The man was arrested on his way to a meeting with his probation officer.

A SPECIALIZED HARD ROCK bicycle worth $450 was taken from a Princeton Street garage on August 8th... PO SANZONE arrested a 26 year-old Levittown woman for DWI (blood alcohol level .17) after she allegedly ran a red light. She was also cited for having no insurance and a suspended license... TWO GPS units and iPod accessories were taken from a Harvard Street vehicle on August 9th... GARDEN CITY POLICE assisted a West Hempstead woman when she was being followed in a car by her ex-boyfriend. According to police, she said she had been followed for several miles. After an investigation, police located him in Elmont and charged him with criminal contempt of court for violating a “stay away” order... AN ATTEMPTED BURGLARY apparently took place at a Hamilton Road apartment on August 9th. Sometime between August 5th and 9th someone had tried to enter the residence, but did not succeed... LOOSE CHANGE was taken from a vehicle at a Jefferson Street residence on August 10th... A DELL LAPTOP valued at $1300 was taken from an Adelphi office on August 10th... TWO LICENSE PLATES were taken from a parked car in parking field 2-S on August 11th...

SMOKE AND BLAZES: THE FIRE REPORT

GARDEN CITY Firefighters rescued a dog which had gotten itself wedged under a gazebo at a Poplar Street home on August 11th. Firemen had to remove floorboards in order to free the animal. However, it appeared to be in some respiratory distress once they reached it, so its owner rushed it to the veterinarian... A PROPANE grill got out of hand at a Jackson Street home on August 7th. The person using the grill had added charcoal briquettes to the grill, which caused excessive heat. According to firefighters, the extra heat may have caused the relief valve on the propane canister to open, at which point the escaping gas then also ignited. Firefighters cooled the canister down with water until the valve closed and put out the fire, which had spread to part of the outside of the home. Because the damage extended to the homes outside electrical service line, the power was turned off pending examination by an electrician... A WESTBURY ROAD homeowner called the fire department because of a smoldering tree trunk in the back yard. At first, firefighters believed that an underground power line in the area might have caused the fire, but it turned out that a member of the household had burned some papers in the area several hours earlier....A HIGH PRESSURE natural gas regulator leaked at a Plattsdale Road (near Amherst Street) facility on August 7th. Firefighters stood by until a specially trained National Grid crew was dispatched to take care of the problem... A CAT caught under a window well grating was released by firemen on August 5th at a Roxbury Road home... AN EMPLOYEE at M & T Bank was locked in a bathroom on August 4th when the knob broke. Firefighters released her...

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT responded to a call for a car fire at Eleventh and Washington Ave on August 8th, but it turned out that the car wasn’t on fire, but only had electrical problems...

THERE WERE also 13 additional automatic alarms calls that turned out to be unfounded.