A Long Island woman described by neighbors as an “all-American” mom helped her two children and another teen vandalize parked cars across three communities in recent weeks, police say.
Authorities say Susan Becker, 43, of East Northport, N.Y. bought a BB gun or pellet gun and drove the three kids around while they shot the windows of parked cars. Police have received at least 60 reports of damage.
She faced multiple charges Monday, including endangering the welfare of a child and criminal mischief, according to Patch.com. Police say that Becker’s 15-year-old daughter, 13-year-old son and a 15-year-old boy participated in the vandalism.
A neighbor told NBC-TV in New York that Becker is, “a very all-American typical mom,” and that, “I just can’t say enough nice things about her, because she’s just such a nice person.”
Police reports were filed in the nearby communities of Islandia, Hauppauge and Commack. Some residents reported their car windows were also smashed.
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The vast majority of Americans — approximately 250 million — live in or around a city. That means most of you know how frustrating it can be to putter along traffic-choked roads and sit in endless delays.
And traffic doesn’t only cost time. Drivers lose money idling away their gasoline.
There are a number of studies that analyze exactly how much time and gas drivers fritter away. When you combine the two factors, and add in a look at overall population density, you can get a more complete, city-by-city look at the worst overall cities to operate a car.
The folks atNerdWallet.com did just that. Using data from a study done by the Texas Transportation Institute on the annual hours commuters spend in traffic delays, gas price data from 304 different urban areas compared to the national average and census information on population density to give the 50 largest metropolitan areas a final score.
The lower the overall score, the worse for the city’s drivers. Here’s a look at their 10 worst cities, and here’s hoping you’re not on the roads of these cities today:
Image Credit:Joe Shlabotnik, Flickr
Annual hours of delay per commuter: 48
% Difference between cost of a gallon of gas and national urban average: -2.71%
Population density (people per square mile): 11,379.5
Overall score for car owners: 58.2
Image Credit:dennis, Flickr
Annual hours of delay per commuter: 44
% Difference between cost of a gallon of gas and national urban average: +15.16%
Population density (people per square mile): 4,375.3
Overall score for car owners: 55.1
Image Credit:Si1very, Flickr
Annual hours of delay per commuter: 45
% Difference between cost of a gallon of gas and national urban average: +17.28%
Population density (people per square mile): 5,572.6
Overall score for car owners: 51.3
Image Credit:lrargerich, Flickr
Annual hours of delay per commuter: 61
% Difference between cost of a gallon of gas and national urban average: +5.38%
Population density (people per square mile): 7,004.0
Overall score for car owners: 49.4
Image Credit:Chris and/or Kevin, Flickr
Annual hours of delay per commuter: 67
% Difference between cost of a gallon of gas and national urban average: -3.07%
Population density (people per square mile): 9,856.5
Overall score for car owners: 48.9
Image Credit:dherman1145, Flickr
Annual hours of delay per commuter: 53
% Difference between cost of a gallon of gas and national urban average: +3.04%
Population density (people per square mile): 12,792.7
Overall score for car owners: 48.7
Image Credit:Willem van Bergen, Flickr
Annual hours of delay per commuter: 61
% Difference between cost of a gallon of gas and national urban average: +7.24%
Population density (people per square mile): 8,092.3
Overall score for car owners: 46.5
Image Credit:RodneyRamsey, Flickr
Annual hours of delay per commuter: 61
% Difference between cost of a gallon of gas and national urban average: +5.75%
Population density (people per square mile): 17,179.2
Overall score for car owners: 36.1
Image Credit:moonlightbulb, Flickr
Annual hours of delay per commuter: 51
% Difference between cost of a gallon of gas and national urban average: +30.30%
Population density (people per square mile): 11,841.8
Overall score for car owners: 29.1
Image Credit:grendelkhan, Flickr
Annual hours of delay per commuter: 59
% Difference between cost of a gallon of gas and national urban average: +7.67%
Population density (people per square mile): 27,012.4
Overall score for car owners: 23.2
Image Credit:danielfoster437, Flickr