Cops: Selden pair used child to steal from junk yard
A Selden man and woman were ordered held in county jail on felony charges for grand larceny, stolen property and endangering the welfare of a child after they allegedly stole from a Riverhead junk yard Monday night — and had the woman’s 8-year-old daughter help them in the robbery, Riverhead Town police said.
Riverhead officer Allen Schule was on patrol about 11:30 p.m. when he spotted a “suspicious vehicle” backing into a dirt road across from Mid Island Auto Parts, a junk yard on Kroemer Avenue, according to a police report.
The officer found the vehicle was being driven by 38-year-old Diana Censoprano, with 34-year-old Spencer Stewart in the passenger seat.
Mr. Stewart had Ms. Censoprano’s 4-year-old son on his lap and her 8-year-old daughter was in the rear of the vehicle, police said.
Police spotted “numerous radiators, tires and rims,” inside the car and called down a K9 unit. Officers determined that the parts had just been stolen from the junk yard, and that Mr. Stewart had the daughter help him.
Police said Mr. Stewart and the 8-year-old scaled a fence at the junk yard while Ms. Censoprano and her son waited in the car.
The pair was arrested at the scene and charged with felony grand larceny, felony possession of stolen property and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, police said. Mr. Stewart was also charged with criminal trespassing, police said, a misdemeanor.
They were arraigned in Riverhead Town court Tuesday morning; Mr. Stewart was held on $10,000 cash bail while Ms. Censoprano was held on $2,000 bail, a court clerk said.
Police listed the two as having the same address, though a police officer could not immediately say how they were related.
The New York State Offices of Children and Family Services were notified and the two children were placed into a relative’s custody, police said.
