One of the suspects in a "cruel and sadistic" crime against a 21-year-old developmentally disabled man in the bathroom of a bowling alley in Shirley may have had a history of bullying the victim, police said.
Steven Rodriguez, 19, of Shirley, approached the victim outside the bowling alley Sunday evening and began picking on him, police said. The victim entered the AMF Shirley Lanes on the Green, off William Floyd Parkway, and was following by Rodriguez and another man, Michael Lunsford, 17, of Shirley.
Police said Lundsford held the victim down while Rodriguez sexually assaulted the victim with a metal toilet cleaning tool known as a plumbing snake. The tool, which is used to unclog drains, was forced into the worker's rectum and spun it several times, causing him severe pain, internal injury and bleeding, according to a police news release.The defendents fled after the victim screamed, police said.
The snake was removed at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital and the victim was in stable condition Thursday, police said.
Police said Rodriguez knew the victim from when both were living at Sagamore Children's Psychiatric Center in Dix Hills, which police described as a home for mentally disabled and troubled children. Rodriguez may have had a history of bullying the victim while both were living at the center, police said.
"There was a personal animosity between Rodriguez and the victim... possibly going back to their days at Sagamore," said Detective Lieutenant Gerard Gigante.
The attack may have been sparked after Rodriguez learned that the victim had discussed with others Rodriguez's time at Sagamore, police said.
Rodriguez was arrested Monday and arraigned Tuesday in First District Court, Central Islip. He was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail, or $200,000 bond, at the Riverhead jail. Lunsford was arrested yesterday and was being held at the Seventh Precinct for arraignment today in First District Court in Central Islip.
Both men faces charges of first-degree aggravated sexual abuse, a Class B felony, punishable upon conviction by up to 25 years' imprisonment, police said.
Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said that the pair were not being charged with a hate crime.
"[The attack] appears to have been done to humiliate as well as assaul this young man," Dormer said.
Rodriguez has three prior arrests. On August 7, he was arrested after he threw a vacuum cleaner at his mother. He was also charged the same day with threatening another person with a pipe. In May, he was arrested after he called 911 and threatened to blow up a Pathmark in Shirley, police said.
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