Shop near West Babylon High shut down after convenience store clerk arrested on drug charges
Police and Babylon Town authorities at the site of the raid at the Infinite Convenience Store on Thursday. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
A clerk at a West Babylon convenience store that Babylon Town officials said was a front for a drug operation located near a school was arrested and the store boarded up.
In a joint operation by the town and Suffolk police’s First Precinct, authorities raided Infinite Convenience Store at 419A Great East Neck Rd. on Thursday afternoon. According to a police news release, an employee at the store, Jerome Jones, 55, of Patchogue, was arrested after he was found to have “crack/cocaine, along with bags and scales associated with sales of narcotics.”
Suffolk County District Attorney spokeswoman Tania Lopez said Jones faces five charges: three counts of third-degree possession of a controlled substance and two counts of second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia.
At his arraignment Friday, Jones pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $12,000 cash, $25,000 bond or $125,000 partially secured bond, Lopez said. He is due back in court Wednesday.
“My client looks forward to his day in court,” Jones’ attorney, Ira Weissman, of Central Islip, told Newsday Friday.
According to social media posts, the store opened four years ago. Business records show Infinite Convenience LLC as the owner, with Atyshia Cruz listed as its chief executive officer. When reached Friday, Cruz told Newsday she had no comment.
Jorge Rosario, senior assistant attorney for Babylon, said the town is expected to pursue about eight additional charges against the store’s owners and operators, including unlawful sale of marijuana and unlawful sale of flavored vapes.
Rosario told Newsday that police had approached the town after pulling over drivers found to be in possession of cocaine after leaving the store. The town and police suspected drug sales were occurring there, he said, so about a week and a half ago, the town sent in someone from its investigations unit who was able to purchase marijuana and flavored vapes. The town obtained a search warrant and teamed up with police for the raid, he said.
“Everything we thought we would find, we found,” Rosario said.
The store is located about 300 feet from West Babylon High School property line, he said, and while its sign advertises typical convenience store items, the shelves were practically empty.
“When you walk into a typical convenience store, the shelves are packed,” Rosario said. “We would describe this place as a front.”
He said that because of the store’s proximity to the school, town officials wanted to move swiftly to carry out the raid.
“We were concerned about what if somebody brings a gun, what if there’s a shootout,” he said. “There’s so many things that can go bad with something like this.”
The town boarded up the store on Friday, Rosario said.
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
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