Anyone Who Offers Information Leading to Arrest Will Receive Fast-Cash Reward
By Hank Russell
The Suffolk County Police Department and Suffolk County Crime Stoppers will highlight several unsolved cases on the department’s social media pages during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. In addition, Crime Stoppers is offering fast-cash rewards for information leading to an arrest in each of the cases. The rewards will be issued within seven days of arrest.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) has designated the week of April 6 this year as National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, which honors crime victims and survivors, recognizes the professionals and volunteers who provide critical services to crimw victims and raises awareness about crime victims’ rights and services.
This year’s theme is “Connecting < KINSHIP > Healing, a call to action to recognize that shared humanity should be at the center of supporting all survivors and victims of crime. KINSHIP is a state of being with survivors that drives vital connections and increases access to services, rights, and healing. KINSHIP is where victim advocacy begins.
“Our partnership with Crime Stoppers has been instrumental in solving cases for more than three decades,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said. “By highlighting these unsolved cases, we hope to bring justice to these victims and their families. We are asking the public to come forward with any information they think could aid in our investigations.”
Cases being featured include:
- Marco Tulio Pineda, 51, who was murdered and found in a rear yard on Second Avenue in Central Islip on February 1, 2024.
- Santos Aguirre, 47, who was killed while crossing Route 110 in Amityville on September 3, 2023. Aguirre was struck by two vehicles that fled the scene. One driver was arrested, and detectives are continuing to search for the driver of the other vehicle, a black 2015 to 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLA SUV.
- Alberto Perea Vazquez, who was crossing Horseblock Road in Farmingville on December 11, 2023, when he was struck by a westbound vehicle. The driver stopped, exited the vehicle, then fled the scene. Vazquez was then struck by another vehicle that stayed at the scene. Detectives believe the vehicle that fled is a gray 2003 to 2007 four-door Honda Accord. Vazquez, 56, of Farmingville, died at the scene.
- Robert Twiford, who parked his vehicle on the off-ramp of eastbound Long Island Expressway at Exit 60, exited his vehicle and, while in the lane of travel, was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene on December 5, 2022. The driver of the fleeing vehicle stopped on Garrity Avenue in Ronkonkoma, exited his vehicle and examined it with a flashlight. The vehicle was described as a light-colored, possibly gray, 2015 to 2018 Ford Focus hatchback. Twiford, 61, of Melville, died at the hospital.
- A 45-year-old woman who was assaulted in a wooded area behind Walmart, located at 1850 Veterans Memorial Highway in Islandia, on December 20, 2023. The woman was transported to a hospital, where she was treated and released. Detectives are seeking the public’s assistance to identify and locate the suspect.
Anyone with information on any of these cases can call 1-800-220-TIPS or download the P3 Tips mobile app or submit a tip online at www.P3Tips.com.