Police: Five Arrested in Deer Park on Drug, Weapon Charges

Five people were arrested in Deer Park Wednesday night after State Police say they found drugs and a defaced gun in the vehicle they were riding in.  

The New York State Police Narcotic Enforcement Unit was conducting an investigation at the intersection of Deer Park Avenue and Grand Boulevard at 9:15 p.m. when they observed the occupants of a Jeep meet with several individuals in a parking lot, police said. 

Believing that a drug deal had taken place, the investigators stopped the Jeep on Grand Boulevard near 10th Avenue, police said.

After the traffic stop, investigators discovered a defaced loaded .38 caliber revolver on the floor of the vehicle. The occupants of the Jeep, Donte McLeod, 19, of Melville, Robert Jones, 19, of Deer Park, Ronald Kibler, 22, of Deer Park, Shannon Kalish, 18, of Melville and Joseph Benedetto, 21, of Deer Park, were all arrested. 

All five are charged with second degree criminal possession of a weapon–defaced weapon–and third degree criminal possession of a weapon-loaded weapon. Both of those charges are felonies. 

Kalish and Jones  are also charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance–Xanax. The five arrested were held in custody and were to be arraigned on Thursday at First District Court in Central Islip.