Update - June 3, 2016 - The arraignment of Stephen Ruth Jr. has been rescheduled by the court to 2:00 this afternoon. The defendant neglected to bring his bail paperwork with him to court this morning and the documents are necessary for a transfer of bail to be completed. The arraignment will be held at 2:00 today before State Supreme Court Justice John Collins (fourth floor of the courthouse).
The original press release is below.
Riverhead, NY - June 2, 2016 - A 43 year old Centereach man arrested for destroying the wiring of 16 red light cameras monitoring intersections along Route 25 in Coram and Centereach is scheduled for arraignment in Riverhead tomorrow (Friday 6/3) on an indictment charging him with 17 counts of criminal mischief in the second degree, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
Sixteen of the charges in the indictment allege the defendant, Stephen Ruth Jr., in April of this year, removed the covers of circuit boxes operating the cameras and cut the wiring inside, rendering them inoperable.
One criminal mischief charge alleges Ruth Jr. on January 18, 2016 cut down a pole supporting a red light camera at the intersection of County Route 83 and Old Town Road in Coram.
Criminal mischief in the second degree is a class “D” felony punishable by a maximum sentence of two and one-third to seven years imprisonment.
The cost of the damage caused to the 17 disabled cameras cited in the indictment is estimated by the manufacturer and the contractor assigned to repair or replace them to be approximately $5,000 per unit, or approximately $85,000 in total.
Ruth remains charged in First District court with pending misdemeanor crimes. He was arraigned last fall in Central Islip on charges of third degree criminal tampering and obstruction of government administration for pushing up the lens of red light cameras in Ronkonkoma so they no longer pointed at traffic.
State Supreme Court Justice John Collins (fourth floor of the courthouse) will call the court calendar promptly at 9:30 am.