Cancer Scam for Heroin Habit Leaves Local Residents Angry

The arrest of a 21-year-old woman soliciting money at a Sayville food shop, to supposedly help pay cancer treatment bills, has left a bad feeling with at least two residents who fell for what police say was an extensive scam to feed a heroin addict.

Brittany Ozarowski, formally of Selden but living out of a Medford motel, was arrested April 1 inside the Sayville Stop and Shop on Montauk Highway and is facing a slew of charges for illegally collecting money on the premise she was riddled with cancer and could not pay for needed treatment, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

Ozarowski placed collection jars in many businesses in Suffolk and Nassau and her story prompted more than a few businesses and groups to hold charity benefits, according to police. She reportedly raised over $10,000 in 13 months, said the DA.

The 21-year-old was actually using the money for a heroin habit, say police, and her arrest has angered many who donated, including two local women.

Wendy Liu met Ozarowski while at the Stop and Shop and donated $20 after hearing the cancer story.

“I actually have the flyer she gave out when she and "her mother" stood there asking for money to help her with her treatment costs. She looked so sickly and her mom looked so sad. I handed over $20 quickly and wished her and her mom luck and continued to shop with tears in my eyes. I never considered it to be a scam. What a kick in the teeth!” she told Patch after learning about the arrest.

Another woman is angry her young children were lied to, especially as one son did a special thing for Ozarowski after they met her at the Stop and Shop.

“My poor kids were so affected by her story when she was begging for money at the Sayville Stop and Shop, we donated cash and bought a bouquet of flowers for her. My 10-year-old son presented the flowers to her and said 'good luck with your treatments'. It makes me sick to find out she was lying to support a heroin addiction,” wrote Christy in a comment post on an announcement that Ozarowski had put on the site in early February.

The note, which can be read by clicking here, was allegedly written by Ozarowski’s father, Thomas McDermott and posted on Sayville Patch on February 28. McDermott claims he was scammed by his daughter as well, say police.

The plea claimed Ozarowski was facing $2.6 million in medical bills and daily treatment was a thousand dollars.

In announcing the arrest the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office called the scam run by Ozarowski as “despicable.”

“There was no cancer, no chemotherapy, no radiation, and no medical bills. There was just heroin,” stated District Attorney Thomas Spota in a release earlier this week.

The DA said the scam ran over a year with Ozarowski soliciting donations from business owners to citizens while standing inside local food markets.

“She convinced store owners in this county and in Nassau to allow her to place donor jars in their place of business, and her arrogance was such that she established a PayPal account and her own website with the banner “Brittany Ozarowski – Help Save My Life”, said Spota in the statement.

The reality, added Spota, is that Ozarowski has reportedly four open narcotics cases and may have forged doctors’ notes to avoid court appearances.

According to a Newsday report Ozarowski even tricked her grandmother into believing the scam and the grandmother allegedly gave her $100,000 after selling her home.

She is facing 24 counts including grand larceny, scheme to defraud and offering a false instrument for filing, according to Newsday. Ozarowski has been in jail pending $5,000 cash bail, or $10,000 bond.

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