From Long Island Press, June 8:

Teen Drives Into Sunrise Mall
On June 7, an Amityville teen was arrested for reportedly driving a car into the main entrance of Sunrise Mall at around 7 p.m.

According to police, Dwight Thomas, 19, smashed through the four doors and frames of the mall in a tan 1995 Toyota Corolla and continued driving into a crowded mall area. Thomas drove the car into a kiosk, then turned left down a hallway and then made another left, clearing two more doors and finally exiting into the mall parking lot.

The man was then held by a passerby until Seventh Precinct Police Officers John Robertazzi and Terrence Quinn arrived at the scene and arrested him. The only reported injury was suffered by a female patron of the mall who was cut by fallen glass. Damages to the building totaled $60,000.

Trisch Ketelsen, Marketing Director for the Sunrise Mall, said the mall has “turned over all its relevant information, business is open, no retailers have been disrupted” and they await further information from investigators.

Thomas was charged with reckless endangerment in the first degree and criminal mischief in the second degree and will be arraigned on Friday June 8.

Further investigation revealed Thomas’ alleged involvement in a fire which occurred on June 5 2007 at the Broadway Mall in Hicksville. He is charged with third-degree arson for that incident. Police have not yet released further information on this alleged incident.

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