Crime & Safety

Wake for Det. Sgt. Robert Reecks to be Held in Mattituck

Visiting hours for Suffolk County Hate Crimes Unit detective who died in a car crash this past Saturday are announced for this week.

Funeral services for, former commander of the Suffolk County Police Department Hate Crimes Unit , will be held at

Visiting hours are on Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. and on Wednesday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A Thursday service will be held at 10 a.m. at the Mother Teresa Tribute Center at 123 Ronkonkoma Avenue in Lake Ronkonkoma.

Reecks, a Riverhead resident who was long-time friends with DeFriest-Grattan’s owner Joseph Grattan, veered off Sunrise Highway in Moriches Saturday morning and hit a portion of a concrete bridge with a 2008 Ford Escort around 5:32 a.m., police said. The 57-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Reecks is survived by his wife, Rita Reecks of Riverhead; his sister Marcia Reecks of Los Angeles; brother Warren Reecks of Fort Washington, Md.; and step-sons Michael and Joseph Caputo.

Call DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home at 631-298-4016.

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