Dix Hills Men Arrested in Cemetery Thefts

Suffolk County Police arrested three people last week on charges of stealing bronze vases from a Farmingdale cemetery.

First Precinct officers responded Friday to a 911 call of a theft in progress at Pinelawn Cemetery, located at 2030 Wellwood Ave., at approximately 12:15 p.m.  Officers located two men who were still at the cemetery in a white 2010 Volkswagen Beetle which had also been driven in a prior larceny at the graveyard.  When the officer attempted to initiate a stop, the driver of the Volkswagen evaded police by driving through a locked metal gate.  After a brief pursuit, the suspects were apprehended at the intersection of North Pine Drive and North Linden Street in Massapequa.    

Nicholas Giambalvo, 27, his passenger, Max Schneider, 24, and the owner of the Volkswagen, Elizabeth Dono, 27, were responsible for the thefts of numerous bronze vases with a combined value of approximately $53,000.  The thefts occurred on October 1, and 16, 2013, and February 5, 6, 2014.

Police said Giambalvo and Dono are also responsible for a burglary that occurred December 2013 in which they entered a vacant home on Kime Avenue in North Babylon and stole copper piping.

Giambalvo, of Etna Lane, Dix Hills, was charged with four counts of Grand Larceny 3^rd Degree, Burglary 3^rd Degree, Unlawfully Fleeing an Officer, Criminal Mischief 3^rd Degree, Reckless Driving and Resisting Arrest.through a locked metal gate.  After a brief pursuit, the suspects were apprehended at the intersection of North Pine Drive and North Linden Street in Massapequa.   

Schneider, of Dix Circle, Dix Hills, was charged with two counts of Grand Larceny 3^rd Degree and Resisting Arrest.

Dono, of Amsterdam Avenue, North Babylon, was charged with Grand Larceny and Burglary 3^rd Degree.