Massapequa Dentist Sues Nassau County Over Illegal Weapons Raid, Dropped Charges

Dr. Paul Carey, a 66-year-old Massapequa dentist, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking millions of dollars from Nassau County and its police department, arguing that officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights when they searched his home without lawful authority in February 2022, then publicly described an arsenal of ghost guns and silencers that courts would later rule could never be used against him.

The incident began on February 16, 2022, when a frightened employee at Carey's dental practice called 911 after reportedly hearing him brandish and rack a shotgun from inside the house. The practice is physically attached to his Massapequa residence. When Nassau County Police arrived, Carey's wife persuaded him to come outside. He was placed under arrest and taken to Nassau University Medical Center for a medical and mental evaluation.

Officers then searched the home with written consent from Carey's wife and found what Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder publicly described as a substantial armory: 30 firearms, including 20 classified as assault weapons under New York's SAFE Act and 16 to 18 ghost guns bearing no serial numbers, 61 high-capacity magazines, seven silencers, a machine shop used to assemble ghost guns from parts ordered online, and approximately 3,000 to 4,000 rounds of ammunition.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly's office charged Carey in a 73-count indictment covering criminal possession of a weapon in the first and second degree, among other counts. Carey, a graduate of NYU dental school, pleaded not guilty on February 18, 2022, and maintained that the weapons were obtained legally. He faced up to 25 years in prison.

The case unraveled for prosecutors when New York Supreme Court Justice Robert A. Schwartz, sitting in Nassau County, granted Carey's motion to suppress all physical evidence. In an order dated December 11, 2023, Justice Schwartz ruled the raid was illegal, finding that Carey's wife's written consent did not constitute lawful authority for the search. The Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, affirmed that ruling in 2025 in People v. Carey, cementing the constitutional finding on appeal. With no admissible evidence remaining, all 73 charges were dropped. Nassau County DA spokeswoman Nicole Turso said only, "We respect the court's decision."

Ryder's press statements at the time of the arrest generated extensive media coverage that Carey claims caused lasting reputational damage to his practice and significant lost income. His lawsuit also cites physical damage to the home from the police entry and the substantial legal fees he incurred across more than two years of criminal proceedings.

The case cuts to a core Fourth Amendment question: whether spousal consent to search satisfies constitutional warrant requirements when the homeowner has been removed from the premises. It also lands against the backdrop of New York's escalating ghost gun problem. At the time of Carey's arrest, DA Donnelly warned that the number of ghost guns recovered had "increased exponentially in the last couple of months."

Two courts have now agreed the search was illegal. Whether Nassau County will be held financially accountable for it is the question Carey's federal lawsuit forces next.