Island Park woman arrested multiple times since New Year's Day found to be in contempt of court

An Island Park woman who has been arrested multiple times since being let out of jail under the bail reform law was found to be in contempt of court during an emergency court hearing Tuesday.

Maria Campione was released from the Suffolk County Jail on New Year's Eve. News 12 reported that she was arrested within just a few hours of her release after allegedly vandalizing an Oceanside ATM and breaking into an elementary school.

She has been arrested four times since.

The latest two arrests include one for allegedly breaking into a car in Rockville Centre over the weekend, then for allegedly throwing a rock through a 7-Eleven in Wantagh.

After a different arrest last week, Campione was arraigned and released without having to post bail at Hempstead court and was ordered to go to Mineola to get an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet.

She did not get the bracelet. The judge in Tuesday's hearing ruled Campione was in contempt of court for not traveling from Hempstead to Mineola to get the court-ordered ankle monitor.

Campione's mother tells News 12 that her daughter is diagnosed with mental illness and has never taken a bus, which is why she didn't go to Mineola to get the bracelet. She says their insurance won't cover mental health services for her daughter and in the past, she was released from the psychiatric ward when ordered there by a judge.

Dr. Jeff Reynolds, with Nassau's Family and Children's Association, says there is a lack of mental health services on Long Island, which is now more in the spotlight with the new bail reform law. Reynolds and Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder say lawmakers in Albany need to go back to the table, and given judges' discretion, to make decisions about individual suspects.

Campione will be held for 10 days on the contempt charge.

A county spokesperson told News 12 that the probation department is not considering adding probation officers in Hempstead court, as that's where the majority of arraignments happen. They say other defendants do keep their appointments in Mineola to get their ankle monitors installed.