Newsday

But just as they crossed into New York on the George Washington Bridge, police were waiting for them.

The arrests of the two, who were not identified, were among six made across the region yesterday in an annual pre-Fourth of July effort by law enforcement agencies to seize illegal fireworks.

The couple's arrest was the culmination of a surveillance operation targeting buyers who go out of state.

In the Nassau arrests, police charged a 57-year-old Wantagh man who they said took orders for fireworks along with coffee and other items that he regularly sells as the manager of a Farmingdale catering company.

James Rankin, of 2510 Bayview Ave., was arrested Tuesday evening and charged with possession of fireworks.

Under Rankin's direction, drivers for King Caterers took orders for fireworks using preprinted order sheets, police said.

He could not be reached for comment.

Nassau authorities said that, in investigating the Rankin case, they uncovered a distribution ring that led them to Suffolk County, where police made three arrests yesterday.

Suffolk police, working with Nassau police, removed $50,000 worth of illegal fireworks from a garage at 63 Ridgewood Ave. in Central Islip.

Police arrested Robert Duke, 44, of that address. Police said the man struck and damaged a camera held by freelance photographer James Carbone, who works for Newsday, as Carbone photographed him outside his home while police searched it.

Duke was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief in the assault and reckless endangerment in connection with the fireworks.

Police also made two fireworks-related arrests at a home on Madison Street in Brentwood. Arrested were Vincent Batista, 66, of 1400 Ninth St. in West Babylon and Christopher Sanfillipo, 42, of 333 N. Ocean Blvd., Deerfield Beach, Fla.

Both were charged with unlawfully dealing with fireworks, a misdemeanor

The Selden couple was caught up in a surveillance operation run by the New York City Fire Department that targets buyers of fireworks from out of state who return to New York where it is illegal to possess fireworks.

The 23-year-old man and his 21-year-old girlfriend were charged with misdemeanor fireworks possession.

"It's not a harmless act to transport this stuff," Asst. Chief Fire Marshal Alex Lynn said.

Authorities do surveillance on various fireworks sellers in states where they are legal, write down the license plates of buyers and track them returning to New York.

Fire officials confiscated $2,000 worth of mortars, rockets, aerial bombs and other fireworks from the couple's car, Lynn said.

Authorities said they planned to search a home the couple share on Wayside Lane in Selden, Lynn said, after the pair said they had an additional $900 worth of fireworks there.

The couple was expected to be released last night after being charged.