Man Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Bellmore Crime Spree

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced that Leonidas Cotsifas has been sentenced to 45 years in prison after he was convicted of assault, burglary, and other charges stemming from a violent one-man crime spree in October 2009. Cotsifas robbed a teenage girl, attempted to steal a woman’s car at a gas station while her son was still in it, and beat a 71-year-old man so severely that he required a three-month hospital stay.

A jury convicted Cotsifas, 51, of Bethpage, of Assault in the First Degree, two counts of Burglary in the First Degree, three counts of Burglary in the Second Degree, Unlawful Imprisonment in the First Degree, Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree,  as well as misdemeanor charges of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, two counts of Petit Larceny, Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Possession of Burglar’s Tools, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fifth Degree, and Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle in the Third Degree.

Rice said that at about 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 1, 2009, Cotsifas entered the first-floor apartment of a two-family home on Centre Avenue in Bellmore. Cotsifas then moved up the stairs to the second-floor apartment where he confronted an 18-year-old girl who lived there with her family. Cotsifas threatened the girl with a crowbar, stole her laptop computer and left the house.

Shortly thereafter and still on-foot, Cotsifas attempted to steal a Chevy Trailblazer at the Valero gas station on the corner of Sunrise Highway and Centre Avenue. The owner of the vehicle was pumping gas when Cotsifas got into the driver’s seat and attempted to drive away with the vehicle owner’s 12-year-old son still sitting in the passenger seat. When the vehicle owner banged on the driver’s side window, Cotsifas exited the vehicle and headed south on Centre Street and then west on Nassau Street, where he broke into the basement of another home.

Cotsifas used a brick paving stone to brutally beat the 71-year-old man who was living in the basement apartment he broke into. Cotsifas then bound the victim’s legs with electrical wire, put on articles of the victim’s clothing, and shaved his head to alter his own appearance before leaving the apartment with the victim’s cash and gold jewelry valued at more than $20,000.

The victim suffered a traumatic brain injury and a broken jaw and nose and has had to undergo extensive therapy to re-learn how to walk and speak. He now requires 24-hour nurse care. Cotsifas was arrested by police called to the area by the first two victims.

“This violent defendant terrorized an entire community and left innocent people traumatized and permanently injured,” Rice said. “Mr. Cotsifas will spend the next 45 years in a prison cell where he belongs and I hope that today’s sentence will help his victims move on from this horrific event.”