I think all charges should be dropped in this case,its a legal handgun and she was protecting her family,criminals ring and run for home invasions and then when u go to door and look nonone is there so you open the door and look around and they force their way into home.She is innocent,maybe is the rockville centre police patrolled more these things would not happen,every weekend in RVC hundreds of teenagers walk around drinking beer and causing chaos and noise and destroying peoples property,Maybe the police should pick these kids up for loitering every weekend and arrest them.These kids are out of control,little rich kids who think they can do whatever they want,This town makes me sick.

Now THIS is an attorney that I would hire! Everything was in order, the gun was registered, and this was a PERSISTANT Harrassment/threat. She was home alone with her 2 kids. We should be selling t-shirts that say "Go ahead- ring my bell and see what happens". This is someone who I would want as my attorney, my neighbor, and even my babysitter. Bernadette is my hero! (Plus her mugshot looks FANTASTIC!)

Obviously, she possessed the gun legally, as some 50,000 Nassau residents do. While the press release makes her sound reckless, we don't hear her side of the story. But we do know one thing. Her family was kept safe, unlike many Nassau residents, she didn't have to fear a pack of home invading mutants. Nobody will ever mess with her again. I wonder what she has to say.

By the way, how is SHE charged with menacing...? She's an upstanding tax paying employed, professional person protecting her own home with a legally registered weapon, and she's home alone with her 2 kids and it's near midnight with strangers keeping on coming up to her house. I HATE it when the news skews the headlines so that you click on the story, worried more about clicks than an accurate portrayal of events. SHAME on the Rockville Center Patch (or whatever this paper is) for leading with " Rockville woman lost her cool" and pushing "becoming victim" farther on into the lead sentence to make the story more interesting. SHAME.

I agree. crucifying Bernadette for protecting her home and family is SHAMEFUL. Where's the common sense? i bet if it was a RVC PD officer's home, this type of conduct would've been a non-issue.

In light of all the recent home invasions, I don't fault Bernadette at all. She is a gutsy lady and that is what we should be extolling.

Remember George Grier of uniondale, who in 2010 used his rifle to stop a MS-13 home invasion? Gangbangers threatened to kill his family and children. he fired the rifle. and he's the one that got arrested.

Time to wake up NY. You don't persecute law abiding home owners who are protecting life and property.

Bernadette and George should be role models for everyone on LI. in Texas, they would've had a parade for their exploits.

i agree that the arrest of this woman is totally out of line but in NYS it is illegal to fire a gun outside of your house even if it is on your property. In NYS it is only legal to shoot a gun on your property if there is someone who is unlawfully INSIDE your residence and that intruder can only be shot below the waist. so the RVCPD and NCPD both acted in an appropriate manner.

this woman recklessy discharged her gun on her front lawn, SHE FIRED HER 9MM GUN, at a 17yr old boy she SUSPECTED had rang her doorbell!!! This in a neighborhood where there are many young children. Is that what we do now to children who ring and run, we subdue them at gunpoint after firing a warning shot across their bow?!?!? GOD forbid the bullet had gone astray and actually injured someone, I wonder how many of you would be championing her actions then!!! And to be clear, she was not alone with her 2 young children, her husband was there as well, and he helped subdue the innocent 17yr old....throw the book at this woman.

I get that people all around us are angry but come on all!! She DID NOT fire at anyone threatening her home.She fired a random shot in the air that could have landed anywhere, including the bedroom of a sleeping neighbor or that of a neighbors child for heavens sake. She WAS NOT protecting her home when she fired off that round. She did it out of pure frustration, She had no evidence the kid had anything to do with the ring and run stuff and certainly had no right to hold an innocent kid at gunpoint. The gun may be legal, it's use was not. She will lose her license for the gun and rightly so. True, there are too many kids roaming the street in this town and the cops do too little to tamp down unruly teenagers. Nonetheless, residents firing haphazard warning shots in the air doesn't solve the problem. Doing so only makes matters worse!

I can not believe I live in a town where people think it is perfectly ok to fire a gun in the air. What if the wayward bullet hit an innocent person? Do we even know if the kid she held at gunpoint is even the person who rang her doorbell? I have an idea, if you are so frightened by the ringing doorbell, pick up the phone and call the police from inside your locked house. What's next, shooting the paper boy because her newspaper was delivered wet. Give me a break!

So now we equate our own silly kids playing ring and run with gang memebers invading homes?? Calm down for crying out loud. The law Eamon describes is, in some ways, non sensical. But that law is not at issue here. Lets try to see this as what it is. A woman who lost her temper and put others in danger and then , (along with her husband?), physically accosted an innocent 17 year old. Had it been my 17 year old to whom that happened Bernadette would have had company in that squad car!!!

People like this give legitimate gun owners a bad name. A permit doesn't give you this right. This is completely reckless and if it were my son she held a gun to, she'd pray for the cops to arrest her

everyone against the teen should be ashamed of yourselves... there is no reason that a 47 year-old mother should be holding a minor under a gun... thank you john and joan you are very wise!! you all have something to say let me know because you honestly do NOT know the whole story

Frank, it's obvious you aren't the dumbest man in Rockville Centre, but when Marcus moves out you may have a shot at the title

@ common sense. Give me a break. There are shootings all the time in OMC, firing guns without provocation every which way and I have yet to see one single resident in that part of town stand up and persecute their "neighbors".

This educated person was provoked at her home at an unreasonable hour. She had cause to be pissed, frustrated, the whole nine. Yeah, it was wrong to fire the gun into the air. @ the ground would've been a better choice. That comes with training and experience.

@ John. As for the comment, "her husband was home". How misogynistic of you. A woman can't protect her family? it has to be a male only endeavor.

Moreover, for the record, that deadly home invasion in CT had the whole family, including the husband, subdued by two men. Having a man around did not change that outcome. In addition, I'm sure the outcome would have been different if the mother was armed. She would've sprayed lead everywhere to protect her children.

No one in this town gives a toss about anything. Even our mayor skips town on "business" just to avoid RVC.

I think the concern with the woman was the fact that she fired a round of .9mm bullets in front of her home in a residential, typically quiet, area. Then assumed that a random person walking in front of her house was part of the alleged prank and essentially held him hostage at gun point until police came. I think the smarter thing to do, for Bernadette, would have been to call the cops and inform them that she was being "harassed" at 11PM at night on a Sunday and leave the consequences up to the authorities. General rule of thumb to protect yourself from house invasions, don't answer the door, and call the police. Taking matters into our own hands as civilians is typically when things go wrong... hence her being arrested on menacing charges. And, to address this point as well, the police heard her side of the story, and they were the ones who chose to arrest her, so clearly it either didn't add up or she was as irate and irrational as she sounds from this story. The End.

I think the real question here is how many times, if at all, did this tax payer call the RVC Police department, and what action did they take when this woman was being harassed? This is a quality of life offense that needlessly went too far in the obvious absence of police protection.

No sane gun owner holds anyone at gunpoint anyway. Anyone with any training will tell you that. First of all, you may be charged with a myriad of felonies from brandishing to kidnapping. Secondly, the person you're "holding" can sue you for violating their civil rights. Depending on the state, you may be in a lot of hot water. Having this happen outside of your home is a huge no-no. Third, and perhaps most important, holding someone at gunpoint puts you in extreme danger! Remember that a detained person has a big incentive to leave before the police arrive. If you aren't willing to kill someone right then and there, your chances are bleak. A violent person will have an easier time disarming you at close range than you think.

Did anyone read this article???? She went out of her home and fired her gun because someone was ringing and running!! Then some kid walks down the street and she holds him at gunpoint?? Doesn't she seem mentally unstable or what??? There is more to this woman than we know!!

Eamon, let me clarify the law for you. First, it is illegal to shoot your gun on your property for things like target shooting, but certainly not illegal for you to have it on you for your protection. However it is not legal to present your gun for any reason other than to protect yourself from an imminent, life threatening situation. That is the law. According to the report she stopped a random, 17 yr old kid and pointed her gun at him without any evidence that he did anything.That is not an imminent, life threatening situation. And finally, who ever told you that you can only shoot a person below the waist? That is ridiculous. If you are going to shoot a person who broke into your home with the intention of causing you or your family harm you DO NOT shoot them in the leg. You shoot to kill him. A limping and bleeding intruder can still (and will) kill you, especially if you just pissed him off by shooting him in the leg.

@ John. Instead of having an armada of squad cars, How about telling kids to stop harassing homeowners? do not provoke your neighbors? Stop drinking and loitering in the streets? Or dumping bottles and cans at elementary schools? or stealing cellphones?

Maybe parents should start parenting and knock some sense into their kids... including the 17 yr olds.

I'll reserve future comments until it is known as to whether or not she or anyone in her home called the RVC PD with a complaint. As for the childish comment made by the person who bears my name regarding if I would endorse a tax increase to increase the number of police officers, I say this is what we pay our PD to do in the 1st place. When a taxpayer calls, particularly on a street that has been recently burglarized, after 11PM, by a woman, you send a patrol car period. You also assume the "pranks" are being conducted by teens being teens. You don't know that for sure which is why we have and pay for police protection.

@ Bernadette. Hope you get off with a slap on the wrist. Once you do, lesson learned: do not fire your weapon unless it is within the confines of your home and under duress. Let's hope it never gets to that stage.

And add a security system with night-vision cameras so you can identify who is harassing your family and forward the images to the PD.

@Frank: An absolutely astonishing thing to say. You clearly know Bernadette and want to defend her. I get it. But to give her right because the "gangbangers" you refer to do the same thing is preposterous. Worse yet, you justify her acts by equating ring and run with "provocation". Is that where you draw the line or can she shoot kids when their basketball goes on her lawn, or when they ride a bike or skateboard by her house or maybe she shoots her neighbor when soap suds run down her curb when a car is being washed? Do you not see the absurdity of what it is you suggest? I feel bad for her neioighbor John (above) whose post makes clear that something is amiss on that block. If you, Frank, get your way next time someone has a cookout in the summer and the nite goes long they better make sure
all the guests are packin' I'm out!!

Wow. I cannot imagine that anyone would think her actions are normal. Especially anyone who has a family. The LAST person I would want as an attorney would be someone who is as over-reactive and as irresponsible as this woman. If it was MY child she was subduing with a loaded firearm, I would sue her gun-happy rear end.

Honestly, You guys must be really good friends to come on here at the first sight of a posting and sing her praises. She sounds like a loon, and as far as her mugshot, the cosmetic surgery isn't fooling anyone.

@ john. You never liked Bernadette to begin with for reasons I won't divulge.

Theres two sides to every story.. Yes, She's a law abiding citizen, professional, tax payer, mother of two and an attorney at that. She probably got reaaaally frustrated and couldnt take the pranking from these kids n lost it.. I don't want to judge her even though her actions were utterly
unsafe and illegal.

@ common sense. Maybe I do know Bernadette.

the incident occurred at 11:15pm on a Sunday. Maybe bernadette thought most teens would be home at that hour, getting ready for class in the morning. Maybe her mind pointed to a possible crime in progress. Again, hard to tell friend from foe at night.

As for defending one over the other, Bernadette is no drug dealing gangbanger.

The parents who buy the beer should be held accountable i think all the charges should be dropped god bless you bernadette i could care less about teens and were they hang out but when they piss on your car well that's just wrong!

@John - your comment that teens are being teens by being destructive doesn't bode well with me. After my house, property and cars had been vandalized we installed cameras. I had to do my own police work using FB, team pictures, and friends to help identify the vandals. These kids were underage, stickin' drunk, foul mouthed and destructive. So they continued the destruction even after the cameras were installed. We were able to identify a couple of them and then they threw the others under the bus. We decided to speak with parents after speaking with the police. Some parents were mortified by their children's behaviour while others would blame it on the other kids in the group and were completely uncooperative. Most of these boys participated in sports and some had pending scholarships. The way we got everyone on the same page was to threaten to go to the school with the videos and get them thrown off their teams. But quite honestly, this took my time, money and energy. This behaviour goes on around this town every weekend, the community is frustrated and something DOES need to be done about.

Question: What if that kid had been shot for this prank? What do you have to say about that: Aww, gee..sorry?

HUH?

Frank: gangbangers at OMC are certainly a bit different than teen pranksters.

C'mon...as little common sense.

That being said, it DOES seem there is a bit of an uptick in local crime. I blame the ecomomy and those respopnsible for turning it around.

Rockville Centre is the third busiest department in Nassau County. They are under staffed, severely under budgeted. With OMC & Molloy building new dorms, as well as The train wreck Avalon Bay being built its only going to get worse. It's really not fair in this situation to bash the police. Everyone has their own story.....of what may have happened...but it's important to feel safe in your own home and know you are protected

Btw...all the RVCPD bashers should have been there today when RVCPD locked up a double homicide perp from Florida with the US Marshalls.
OMC and Section 8 loads of fun to patrol....the gift that keeps on giving...

Now I know it was a Sunday night but it was the night the Giants won a trip to the SuperBowl. The bars were mobbed. Read the Herald and look at how many robberies, larcenies, assaults, burglaries, criminal mishiefs, etc there are every week not to mention appearance tickets issued for public urination, public consumption of alcohol. Add also the OMC crime wave. The police, 4 of them, are responding to everything I've just mentioned plus things not mentioned; bar fights, accidents, medical aideds, psychos, etc. If you expect our police to be on Forest Ave you've got another think coming. It seems the PD only leaves the business area for overnight parking enforcement! This woman, if she truly felt threatened, should have called 911, gotten her handgun, made sure all doors & windows were locked, and went upstairs to an open window and watched & listened. For her to venture outside and fire off a warning shot is reckless. For her to see a person walking buy and then stopping him without being able to identify him as one of the perpertrators is insane. The police have training for these exact scenarios. And they've probably done it 1,000 times. Even if the response time was 15 minutes who cares? Just hunker down and wait it out. It was pranking. Even if it was a setup for a home invasion, stay on the line with 911. There was no excuse for what this woman did. She endagered this teen & all her neighbors. Let the professionals handle it. It's never worth it to get involved yourself.

@ Frank. kids have been doing this for all their life, their not mature enough to understand that its very childish. what did you do when you were a little kid. i guess you forgot that you most likely did stupid things like ring and runs. stop being an old fart and wake up and give them a break, once they hit puberty theyll understand its wrong just like mature adults

Agreed Chris. Some immature kids did it, it's not like no one has not done that. NO ones perfect, the fact that @frank is ranting about it (also some other patch members) is ridiculous. They're teenagers, they do stupid things. It's nothing new.

@everyone - we are blessed to live in a town with its own police force.. ask your neighbors in s hemp, baldwin, east roc etc.. rvc has 3-5 cars ready to go at all times.. nassau 1 car baldwin/ so hemp - 2 cars cover oceanside/e rock.. I have never heard of a slow response time from our pd.. kids are a problem all over.. BLAME THE PARENTS ! or just understand , you were once young and stupid too... as far as this mother shooting a gun, its a dumb move that could have had worse consequences... have respect for the fact she has children that should not have to sufer for her stupidity.... as far as OMC... someone please talk to avalon bay, molloy or whoever.. tell them to buy it and lets get rid of this crime infested area... maybe if OMC was somehing else, rvcpd could concentrate on other crimes that effect our residential areas....

When everyone was a kid they did stupid things they regret and talk about it now and laugh about it about how stupid it was. @ Frank unless you had a bad childhood growing up and didnt experience teenager classic stupidity you know what im talking about. for marcs comment, being spoiled and rich has nothing to do with it. go to any other town and youll find yourself in the same situation or even worse. kids will always be kids. their brains dont function like mature adults yet so there going to slip up if you like it or not

Once again Chris, nailed it. Whatever town you're in kids are always either drinking or creating mischief. It's not exactly a habit, but teenagers aren't exactly mature and don't have careers to worry about. They just wanna try to have fun is all, and letting your kids go out and adventure a bit isn't the worst thing to do.

still going to stick with kids will always be kids, of course some will be worse then others, everyone had the one friend that would be the "bad ass" in the group and would do stupid things like throwing pumpkins and etc. if you havnt experienced this as a kid and all of your friends were great and never did anything wrong ill then assume you did nothing as a child and had no fun with your life.

"our parents" are parents, they of course would never let us and be ashamed of us if we did mischeif. they are here to grow us up right and teach us right from wrong yet im sure they did stupid things in the past that they wouldnt want their kids doing. parents are meant to set an example to their kids thats whats parents are for. i do agree that people dont respect peoples property and etc comparing to back in the day. iits according to where you grew up and generations changing

I am flatterd to receive such an erudite comment from wht I hope is not a fellow resident.

@smokey im with marc on that one, what type of comment was that? get help!

how immature is this person? grow up and get out of here what are you 12?

LOL....see you on the train tomorrow.

I don't think he commutes on the train. Just a feeling. Anyway "Marc", your childhood obviously didn't contain as much fun as anyone elses. Point is, parents allow their kids to do this stuff so they learn a lesson. So if you think they're letting them do what they do cause they don't care, trust me, they care.

ANYWAY....this story just ran on Channel 4. Aren't we proud?

If anything your childhood sounds like a dead horse

Shooting squirrels is immature and the rest is clearly none of your business. I will say however, that my teenage years were fantastic.

I don't know what crowd you ran with, but it sound like you were what we would consider an "indoor child".

In any event, I give up (dead horse and all that)...I hope your life continues to be fun and fulfilling. Really.

Ok.

Wow. We got a bonafide OMC prodigy on the board. My do they just liven a conversation.

Best protect ya neck Smokey. you might wet yourself.

@ RVC. It's time parents step up and parent.

Teach "respect your neighbor".

N Smokey, Big Worm gonna wet you up with a mouth like that. You're the poster child for pro choice.

Holla back at the dog pound that the new new jack city is gonna get raided... Again...

@ anthony bottan. I thought colorful language is prohibited? Smokey is lighting it up!

did earl change his name to smokey... its unbelievable that people like this enjoy freedom...

Where is Anthony Bolton? Sitting next to Smokey?

I just saw all these nasty comments by Smokey (work meeting this morning) and they are deleted. I apologize for not seeing it earlier, and i can assure you, that will be the last we hear of Smokey. Thanks to everyone else for keeping this thread FAIRLY clean and respectful.

You have no right to fire a weapon when there is no direct threat or immanent danger to you. That being said regardless how legal her possession of the gun was, there was no need to fire a shot. The alleged teen that was outside her house when she happened to detain him was not on her property. The sidewalks are public not private so keep your private life inside and if you do not like what goes on in the public pick yourself up and move to a place where you can be private.

Has anyone read the newsday today?? Now whacko went into atty. mode by saying he was in her home, the 17 y.o. didn't believe it was a real gun and that's why she fired the gun and now her husband wasn't home and he just so happen returned home at that time and now he wrestled him to the ground!! I think she got her story together from all our comments!!! What kind of message is she sending to her kids?? LIE to whomever and whatever as long as it gets you out of the situation. Good parenting. If that 17 yo was in her house do u really believe the police wouldn't have arrested him??? Please!!

Well she is an attorney.. (known to make false allegations?..)

This story is a lot of things but self defense is not one of them. There was no threat there - she was mad and not scared. It appears that she is trying very hard to shift the blame - if that kid is an innocent passerby she is already laying the ground work for her defense in a whopping suit that could be coming from his family. She was reckless and put many people in addition to that kid in danger.
And for those of you who think that ringing and running is a "prank". It might be at 6:30 at night and you do it to your friends. At 11:30 at night it is not only disrespectful and inconsiderate but dangerous. She could have come right at the kids with a gun. What if the residents were sick, elderly or had infants? What if they are people who get up early to go to work? You need to think about the boundaries of fun that you are teaching your kids. Yes, for ever kids will be kids but they shouldn't be taught that their fun is at other people's expense. I hope those kids see the chain of events that their behaviour caused and that they are identified and held accountable.

When all said and done it all comes down to how this woman reacted to this. All she had to do is call the police, lock her doors and let them take care of this. She put the law in hands and now let's see how she will be held accountable.

Regardless of the details, this woman held a gun to an inncent 17 year old kid and deserved to be arrested. However, kids in this town for the most part, are spoiled, selfish, and dont understand or think about any consequences. At house parties, these kid's idea of fun is to break and steal anything they can find. On mondays, the halls at school are filled with talk of kids bragging or luaghing about who stole or broke the most at a house party over the weekend, its disgusting and pathetic. There's nothing wrong with a group of kids goin out and havin a few beers with friends, but these idiots from rvc just dont know how to act responsible at all. In my opinion, its becuase these kids were brought up lacking responsabilities and being handed everything to them by mommy and daddy. Its this issue of Irrisponsible kids who are sheltered from the real world by their parents, that cuased this incodent and many others.

First of all, my name is " Mickey Clark ", and NOT "Clarkey Mick", as was posted in this "opinion section" previously in referance to the shooting on Forest Ave.. Somebody I am sure was using a spin off of my real name which is often found in the "Letters to the Editor" section of the RVC Patch, the RVC Herald, NEWSDAY, or the NY Post. While "imitation is considered some form of flattery", I suppose, it would be much more flattering if the writer would echo my real sentiments on the matter, clean up their sentance structure and know a tad about the subject of which they opinionate, none of which resembles any of my attributes.I do chide "The Patch" for not having a policy of verification of opinion writers similar to what the other Newspapers and Publications have, lest other opinions in the "Patch" may be attributed to myself or others by "innuendo" and not fact.

Mickey Clark

My (Real) opinion on the shooting on Forest Ave, this past week is simple. The woman who fired the warning shot, should not have done so. In spite of her fears for herself and family, anyone with a firearm must realize that a bullet fired from a gun must strike something that is in the direction the barrrel was pointed. Even if the gun was fired in the air, it must drop to the ground someware. So there is extreme danger in unleashing a shot from a gun in a dense residential community such as RVC. The woman was clearly wrong logically and legally. As an attorney she should have known this and acted accordingly by calling the RVC Police immediately. For those criticising the RVC Police, they are way out of line. In my experience the RVC Police respond as promptly as possible to every cal they receive. We must however understand that our Police Department is understaffed and that any respite to correct that situation anytime soon is unfortunately defined by the lack of funds available. . .
I don't believe the woman who fired the shot should be prosecuted or penalized, however, She should be required to attend, at her expense a NRA approved handgun course that would teach her among other things, "How to think logically in a perceived threatening situation.".

Mickey Clark

With crime on the uprise and imminent civil unrest a very real consideration between now and November 2012, you can rest assured that whatever laws regarding guns, mob rule, and rioting is concerned will be similar to the "Wild West". Personally I believe it's time that the public realize the dangers that will be upon us and demand that they be allowed MORE access to legal home defense weapons. it's also time that Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy retires from her quest to disarm all Americans and let a pro seconed amendment, and Constitutionalist Congressman replace her and face up to the very real truth that we all face a very dangerous future.

Cudos to the real Mickey Clark..You are right on. There is too much bashing in every direction on this thread. The RVC PD do a great job. They could use a little more politeness when they answer the desk phone or greet you in the station. But when a person calls they think their problem is the most important. The fact is the RVCPD have to prioritize their calls and believe it or not might have a life threatening situation (remember they respond when you call for a ambulance and a fire) at the same time as your call is received.
The lady in question is at fault for recklessness and endangerment. However she is a mother of 2 children, and for the husband and childrens sake that must be respected. Somewhere in the middle of the stories lies the truth. Only those there will know what really happened. Most importantly is that no one was physically injured. If the 17 y/o boy was a innocent passerby then I include him when I say, SADLY the children of the household were definately immotionately injured,victims
The internet is great everyone can give an opinon and hide behind the enter button. Regardless of the statement, factual, hurtful, or just pure rumor. All one can hope is that if you are ever placed in a situation that you did not cause, you remember to act rationally and not escalate the situation. Because the world will annyonomously be blogging away "monday morning quarterbacking" this decision.
Is this why bullying is killing our kids?

I have a distinct feeling that after all that is said and done, and the Police have concluded their investigations into the "shooting" on Forest Avenue. We might all have egg on our faces and get a big chuckle concerning the actual facts in the case. Let's wait and see.

Kevin. You are incorrect. His name is Jeff GREENFIELD, and has nothing to do with this, or Ms. Greenwald for that matter.