W. Babylon Sees Rise in Residential Burglaries in August

West Babylon accounted for almost a fifth of the Suffolk County First Precinct's residential burglaries in the month of August, according to police officials.

First Precinct officers speaking at a recent community meeting noted a small bump in West Babylon's residential burglaries in past month, up one from four in the month of July. The precinct on the whole had 33 during the month, with only Lindenhurst outpacing the hamlet with seven.

Babylon Village did not see any residential burglaries during August.

"We're up on residential [burglaries] this month, but down for the year," noted Inspector Gerard Gigante. He also noted that overnight burglaries were way down, stating he had not seen them in awhile in the area.

Unlike the month before, commercial burglaries in the West Babylon area dropped to two after facing four the month before. Babylon Village again had no reported commercial burglaries during August. 

Throughout the entire precinct, commercial burglaries seemed to drop with only eight reported during August.

The precinct also recorded 747 arrests during the past month, which is considered "average" by officers for the mid-summer. The number, however, rose over 100 people from the previous month's statistics.

Motor vehicle accidents throughout the precinct were also up 10.7 percent to 641 during August. 17.4 percent of those accidents involved injuries and only one accident in total was fatal during the month.

21 people were also arrested during the month on DWI charges.

The next Community Meeting is expected to be held at West Babylon Public Library on October 3 at 7 p.m.