Suffolk County Week in Crime: Gunfire, High-Speed Maserati Chase, DUI With Kids

Dominick Tullon, 18, of Coram fired four shots outside an occupied apartment building at 24 Country Club Drive the evening of March 22 over a marijuana debt so small it barely covers a fast-food meal. Three missed. The fourth struck a 38-year-old man, and the bullet remains lodged near his spine; surgeons have determined that removing it would risk permanent paralysis. The victim has already undergone two operations.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Tullon's indictment on April 3, with an arraignment before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro on April 2. "This defendant allegedly fired four shots at this man and his family outside an occupied apartment building, all over a $25 debt," Tierney said. Tullon faces Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, Assault in the First Degree, and Criminal Use of a Firearm in the First Degree, all Class B violent felonies. The dispute had nothing to do with the victim directly: investigators say the victim's 16-year-old stepson owed Tullon $25 for a marijuana purchase, and Tullon arrived at the family's home to collect.

The Coram shooting was the most serious of several incidents that unsettled the county in recent weeks. In what police described as a catalytic converter theft gone sideways, four suspects fled officers at more than 90 miles per hour on March 7 before crashing their Maserati somewhere in Suffolk County. Henry Cruz, 25, and Luis Acosta, 24, were arrested at the scene and arraigned in Central Islip the following day. Two others, Jeorge Santana Sanchez, 34, and Madinson Silverio Ventura, 27, escaped on foot and were not caught until March 19, when they were taken into custody at a Bronx hotel. A Suffolk County police officer sustained a broken ankle during the pursuit. All four have since been charged.

In Central Islip, a mother was arrested after police found her drunk behind the wheel with a toddler and an infant in the back seat. The children were unharmed. She now faces charges under Leandra's Law, New York's statute that automatically elevates a DWI to a felony when a child under 15 is in the vehicle.

Other incidents rounded out a turbulent stretch for the county. In Dix Hills, a pickup driver allegedly struck another vehicle while impaired, seriously injuring a 21-year-old passenger. In Patchogue, a man accused of snatching a 4-year-old from a laundromat was released under electronic monitoring, a decision that drew public criticism. In Selden, authorities say they seized enough fentanyl from one individual to kill more than two million people, along with additional weapons charges.

The Coram attempted murder case, with its combination of a teenage defendant, a permanently injured victim, and a motive measured in pocket change, will be the one prosecutors and defense attorneys spend months litigating. For now, Tullon remains subject to the indictment, with the case proceeding in Suffolk County Supreme Court.