Joel Rifkin's arrest location

This is the location where the police arrested serial killer Joel Rifkin.

It is situated near the intersection of Old Country Road and Washington Avenue in Mineola, New York.

In the early hours of June 28, 1993, two state police officers were traveling along the Southern State Parkway on Long Island when they noticed a tan-colored 1984 Mazda pickup truck with no license plate.

After getting closer to the truck, they switched on their flashers and used the PA system in their patrol car to order the motorist to stop.

However, instead of pulling over, the driver sped up and headed for the northbound exit to Wantagh Avenue.

Realizing they had a chase on their hands, the officers called in for backup.

For the next twenty minutes, six patrol cars followed the Mazda truck as it raced through the streets of Wantagh, Levittown, Westbury, and Mineola. At times, they reached speeds of 90 mph.

The chase came to an abrupt end at 3:45 a.m. when the driver lost control and hit a lamp post at this intersection beside the Nassau County Courthouse.

Following the impact, the vehicle rolled to a stop on the southern sidewalk of Old Country Road.

When the officers surrounded the truck with their handguns drawn, the male driver complied with their demands to step out and lie face down on the ground.

After checking the man's license, they learned he was Joel Rifkin, a 34-year-old unemployed gardener from East Meadow.

During a search of Rifkin's truck, the officers discovered a body that had been wrapped in a blue tarp and rope.

The officers were unable to discern the race of the victim due to the rate of decomposition.

Shortly after his arrest, Rifkin told the police that the body belonged to 22-year-old Tiffany Bresciani, a sex worker whom he had picked up in Manhattan.

Bresciani lay in a wheelbarrow in his garage for four days until the odor had compelled him to act.

Rifkin said he was en route to dump her remains at a spot near Republic Airport in Farmingdale when the patrol car noticed his missing license plate.

His calmness while recalling Bresciani's death set off alarm bells among investigators, as they felt he was far too composed and blasé for this to have been his first murder.

Their instincts soon proved to be right, as Rifkin later confessed to killing 17 sex workers over a four-year period.