Crime & Safety
Kings Park Man Who Fled Police Last Year Sentenced on New Charges
Paul Lucente was sentenced to six months in prison on Jan. 30 for criminal drug possession.
A Kings Park man who has found himself in trouble with the law again.
Paul Lucente, 32, was arrested on a bench warrant last week at his home in Kings Park.
Lucente was a passenger in a car driven by Benjamin Laudonio, 26, of Stony Brook, last April, when he crossed over the center divider line on Route 25 in Smithtown on April 23. When Laudonio was pulled over by Suffolk County Police, Lucente fled the scene, leaving his child behind the back seat of the car. An investigation revealed that Laudonio was under the influence of drugs, police said. According to police, heroin was found in the car.
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Lucente later turned himself in, contacting police from his home and was arrested. The boy was put in the care of his maternal grandfather. He pleaded guility to child abandonment charges and was sentenced with three-years probation.
Police said they were at Lucente's home on Jan. 29 for a bench warrant when police say he was in possession of heroin and a hypodermic needle.
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Lucente was charged with crimnal possession of a controlled substance and pleaded guilty in First District Court on Jan. 30. Lucente was sentenced to six months in jail, six month license suspension and ordered to pay a $250 fine.