Explosives found near US Open venue

A Long Island man has been arrested for storing powerful fireworks in trailers near the site of this week's U.S. Open golf tournament, police said Monday.

Nassau County police said they arrested Robert Petrizzo, 44, of Deer Park, on Friday after finding more than 300 cases of fireworks, including artillery shells, aerial mortars, firecrackers and mini-rockets, at his paper recycling business in Bethpage.

Petrizzo was charged with criminal possession of explosives, criminal storage of explosives and unlawfully dealing in fireworks. Police also said they seized more than 10 pounds of marijuana from Petrizzo, who could face up to 22 years in prison if convicted.

Frank Linzo, the chief of the racket bureau of the Nassau County district attorney's office, said the explosives were stored in four trailers. Three were outside Petrizzo's plant and one was inside, he said.

Petrizzo's business, P&P Paper Recycling, is 300 feet from a supply tent for the U.S. Open, which begins Thursday in Bethpage State Park.

Linzo said the police were acting on a tip from the Suffolk County district attorney's office. He would not comment on how that office learned of the fireworks, but he said Petrizzo was working at the time of his arrest on Friday afternoon and cooperated with police when they arrived.

``Once we got the information, we had to act very quickly because if there had been an accidental explosion, the sound itself would have been enough to cause panic for the 50,000 people at the Open,'' Linzo said.

Petrizzo was arraigned Saturday and was released after posting $10,000 bail. He's due back in court on Wednesday.

Telephone calls to Petrizzo's office Monday afternoon went unanswered. His home phone number is unlisted.