Nassau Cops say crooks had illegal ATM card reader, stolen credit cards in car.
Two Brooklyn men spent Thanksgiving in handcuffs waiting to be arraigned in a L.I. courthouse.
Nassau County 3rd Precinct Police say the pair was pulled over in a car with tinted windows and temporary Georgia license plates on Zeckendorf Boulevard, Garden City, Wednesday night, around 9:32pm.
3rd Precinct Police Officer Brian Nadel says he and two fellow officers were following their white Honda Civic when the driver started to throw things out the window.
They pulled it over.
At the wheel: Kaya Findlay, 23, with a Georgia driver’s license.
P.O. Nadel says Findlay made “furtive movements” near the floor of the Honda. He told the driver to stop. He says Findlay didn’t stop.
Officer Nadel along with Officer Henry Piccoli dragged Findlay out of the car and put him in handcuffs.
Meantime, Officer Dillon Margolnick told the Honda’s passenger, Tysheem Rivera, 320, to get out of the car, and he was also handcuffed.
A search of the Honda turned up an illegal card reader — known as an “Electronic Skimming Device MSR X6 reader/writer” — and 59 store gift cards, say police.
P.O. Nadel says he searched Rivera and found 4 Visa debit cards in his inside jacket pocket. The cards had the names of 4 other people. None of those people was named Rivera.
P.O. Piccoli walked over to the stuff Findlay allegedly threw out the window before they pulled him over. He says he found 23 Lowe’s receipts for gift cards nearby, blowing around, on the side of the road.
Police say an E-Justice background check of Findlay turned up records of his New York driving privileges. His N.Y. license was previously suspended — eight (8) times, say cops. Findlay produced a Georgia license with a Georgia address at the traffic stop, say cops.
They were arrested on the spot.
Arraigned Thanksgiving Day before Judge Arie Schulman in Nassau County District Court, Rivera described his current employment in sworn testimony as he tried to qualify for a taxpayer-financed public defender.
“I resell sneakers for money,” Rivera said.
Arguing that the allegedly stolen cards constitute financial “damage” to property, the Asst. DA asked to order an electronic ankle monitor for Rivera. Judge Schulman called that argument “a stretch”, and released Rivera with a court date of November 30 in the West Wing before Judge Anthony Paradiso.
Rivera gave a Brooklyn address in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
He’s charged with criminal possession of stolen credit cards under NY Penal Law 165.45 02, a Felony, and Misdemeanor possession of an illegal credit card skimmer.
Findlay was arraigned net. He has a 4-year-old daughter and is “self-employed”, dog-sitting and dog-cleaning, he said. The Asst. DA said the District Attorney’s office had “no objection” to ROR — but the Judge had questions for Findlay.
“You are up here from Georgia?” he said. Findlay replied that he is visiting New York “for the holidays”.
Out-of-state defendants are tempted to skip court appearances. Judge Schulman ordered Findlay to register with Pre-Trial Services. Findlay is charged with Misdemeanor possession of an illegal credit card skimmer under NY Penal Law 190.85 and 4 traffic tickets for driving an unregistered car with tinted windows with a suspended license. He is due back in court on November 29, 2023.
The question now is: Will they go?
