Contractor Scams $200,000 from Elderly in Driveway Repair Scheme
Robert Cohan, 26, of East Rockaway, was arrested Tuesday morning by DA Investigators. He’s been charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and Operating a Home Improvement Business without a license. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice says Cohan stole close to $200,000 from multiple elderly clients who hired him to repair their driveways. If convicted he faces up to 15 years in prison.

In July 2012, Cohan approached a 73-year-old woman living on Brower Avenue in Woodmere and offered to repair her driveway for $78,600. Cohan told the elderly woman he’d need cash up front but would get her a New York State rebate for $88,600 by September 7, 2012. The woman agreed and also paid Cohan $1,500 to paint her deck and repair cracks in her home’s foundation.

Between July and September the woman gave Cohan 43 checks which amounted to $67,490 and $10,400 in cash. While he did paint her deck and repaired a few of the cracks in her home’s foundation, he never started the work on the driveway. After repeated excuses from Cohan, the elderly woman enlisted the assistance of her son who was an attorney. When Cohen didn’t make due on the promise of paying her back, the woman filed a complaint with the DA’s office.

Cohan had been arrested by Nassau County Police on June 1, 2013 on similar charges for scamming two elderly brothers into giving him $118,000 for driveway repairs. "This defendant thought these senior citizens would be easy marks, but he did not count on the strength and tenacity of his victims,” District Attorney Rice said. “Their dogged determination to hold Robert Cohan accountable for the promises he made was instrumental in his arrests.”

Anyone who thinks they may have been scammed by Cohan’s company, All About Driveways, should contact the DA’s Complaints Bureau at 516-571-3505.
 

Man stabs Two Teenagers in Commack
Suffolk County Police have arrested Clyde Ricks, 20, of Bay Shore, for stabbing two 19-year-olds. Fourth Precinct Squad detectives arrived at the scene of Indian Hollow School at 10:40 p.m. after responding to a disturbance call.

Detectives found Guy Derival and Nick Governale, both of Commack, with stab wounds on the school’s property. The two were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital. Derival, 19, is in stable condition after sustaining multiple stab wounds to the chest. Governale, 19, also in stable condition, sustained non-life-threatening stab wounds to his upper arm and hip.

Ricks is being held at the fourth precinct and scheduled to be arraigned at the First District Court in Central Islip on Wednesday.

[Source: Nassau County DA, Suffolk County Police]