Riverhead, NY - February 8, 2017 - A Centereach man arrested for destroying the wiring of red light cameras monitoring intersections along Route 25 in Coram and Centereach in Suffolk County pleaded guilty today at a court conference in Riverhead to a charge of criminal mischief, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
The defendant, Stephen Ruth Jr., in April of last year, removed the covers of circuit boxes operating the cameras and cut the wiring inside, rendering them inoperable.
Today before Suffolk County Judge Timothy Mazzei, Ruth admitted to damaging the equipment and was sentenced to a year of interim probation and ordered to return to court on April 27 for a restitution hearing.
The cost of the damage caused by Ruth to the 17 cameras is estimated to be approximately $5,000 per unit, or approximately $85,000 in total. The court will decide at the hearing how much the defendant will be legally obligated to pay back.