tagged w/ ice cream truck
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The Lickety Split ice cream truck on Staten Island was dishing out more than single-dips - it was selling oxycodone pills to junkies for $20 a pop.
That's what prosecutors said Thursday as they announced the indictment of 31 members of a "diabolic" black-market pill-pushing ring that racked up $1 million sales in a year.
Grownup addicts sat in their cars waiting for local kids to finish getting their treats, then lined up for their painkillers - a generic version of the powerful and highly addictive OxyContin narcotic pain reliever.
"Oh no!" said a neighbor, Michelle Levy, 40, the mom of a 5-year-old and 7-year-old who were regular Lickety Split customers.
"My kids bought ice cream every day last summer. It's horrible, scary, that they were moving drugs. This is a close-knit community. We never suspected."
Ringleaders Louis Scala, 29, and Joseph Zaffuto, 39, got hundreds of blank prescriptions from co-defendant Nancy Wilkins, 40, the office manager for an unsuspecting Manhattan orthopedic surgeon, officials said.
They forged them and recruited friends, relatives and neighbors to be "runners" who went to mom-and-pop pharmacies to fill the prescriptions.
They paid about $1.66 a pill, then turned them over to Scala and Zaffuto, who sold them for $20 each, prosecutors said. The runners, many of them addicts, got a few bucks or pills as payment.
"They knew who in the neighborhood was either an addict, already addicted to Oxycodone, or was in desperate financial straits," city special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan said.
She noted that the ice-cream truck operation - set up in front of Scala's and Zaffuto's homes in Pleasant Plains and Charleston - "was a poorly kept secret" yet no one from the community tipped off authorities.
The ring was uncovered in June when a runner was arrested for holding up pharmacies - including a drug store where he had tried to fill a suspicious prescription and was turned away.
Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan said the 42,755 pills the ring sold are just a fraction of the black market.
The number of prescriptions filled for oxycodone and other narcotic pills has skyrocketed in the city, contributing to overdoses and crime.
"We are equating this now to the epidemic that we saw when crack cocaine was first introduced in New York City," he warned.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/03/17/2011-03-17_oxycodone_ring_busted_1_millionayear_business_run_out_of_ice_cream_truck_on_stat.html#ixzz1H1NGqrZKThe Lickety Split ice cream truck on Staten Island was dishing out more than... more
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As summer winds down, we take a look back on the weirdest things that have ever happened involving one of the staples of every summer: ice cream trucks. Incidents range from creepy, to inexplicably hilarious, to just downright astounding. From a child molester driving an ice cream truck, to a guy dancing in the middle of the street then getting hit by one, to a man who killed another man over a "potential" ice cream truck, then confessing to murder in exchange for chicken, here are the biggest WTF moments in ice cream truck history.
http://www.ranker.com/list/9-biggest-wtf-ice-cream-truck-incidents-ever/john-barrymanAs summer winds down, we take a look back on the weirdest things that have ever... more
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Soft Serve Robot=WIN! In five years, every office will have one of these. AMP works, pass it on.Soft Serve Robot=WIN! In five years, every office will have one of these. AMP works,... more
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The Tactical Ice Cream Unit was invented with the goal of empowering the public on personal, communal and transitional fronts. With a sweet treat (vegan) and some knowledge in hand, the tactical ice cream unit wants to empower the individual energy of the masses into positive social transformation. This project was created by the Center For Tactical Magic.The Tactical Ice Cream Unit was invented with the goal of empowering the public on... more
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Ice Cream Man's mission is to travel the country, eventually the world, giving away FREE ice cream.
Our growing team combines the minds, hearts, skills and resources of adventurous individuals who refuse to adhere to the old business paradigm. We fund this venture through advertising, sponsors, promotions and merchandising, building win-win-win relationships between everyone involved. To date, Ice Cream Man has given away over 125,000 treats. With the goal of giving away half a million ice creams, we’ve still got a long way to go.Ice Cream Man's mission is to travel the country, eventually the world, giving... more
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What is the one thing you want when the heat is unbearable? That you need the A/C running all the time and it is soo hot that you can cook....What is the one thing you want when the heat is unbearable? That you need the A/C... more
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San Bernardino county supervisors have unanimously voted to bar registered sex offenders from operating ice cream trucks.
The ordinance requires that anyone seeking an ice cream selling license must undergo electronic fingerprinting.
"It's a proactive measure to protect children in San Bernardino County," said David Zook, a spokesman for the supervisor. San Bernardino county supervisors have unanimously voted to bar registered sex... more
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I think criminals can not get hair cutting licenses ... It only makes sense that pedophiles can not operate ice cream trucks.
I think criminals can not get hair cutting licenses ... It only makes sense that... more
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