Amityville Village Police arrested a subject last week, determining after an investigation that he had a previous criminal record, had been deported and returned illegally to this country. Police gave this account:

APO Dave Smith was on patrol during the early morning hours of June 28, canvassing the area around Bayview Avenue as part of a police effort to solve five residential burglaries that had taken place in Amityville over the past month. While staked out, Smith observed Pedro Nunez, 38, of Johnson St., North Amityville riding a gray Mongoose, 20-inch boy's bike onBayview Avenue. The bike had no light on it and no bell and Nunez was moving up and down the street and in and out of several driveways, peering into vehicles parked there. Smith stopped Nunez and discovered that he was in possession of a foot-long screwdriver and can opener. He was arrested for possession of burglar's tools and taken to the Amityville Police Headquarters where he gave a false name.

Smith, however, fingerprinted Nunez and put the information into the National Crime Information Center system operating in the precinct. Within a short period of time, it returned information identifying Nunez and showing that he had a prior police record and had been deported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Service.

Amityville Village Police called the INS and officials responded, taking Nunez into custody.