Jury convicts another Bellmore home invader

Another Brooklyn man was convicted of an array of charges he faced for his role in a violent home invasion in North Bellmore in September 2011 that led to a high-speed chase through Merrick and Wantagh, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said last week.

Gustavo Arroyo, who was 33 at the time of his arrest, was convicted by a jury on Sept. 24 of four counts of first-degree robbery, four counts of second-degree robbery, four counts of first-degree burglary, one count of second-degree burglary, one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, three counts of second-degree unlawful imprisonment, one count of second-degree attempted unlawful imprisonment and two counts of second-degree assault. Chris Munzing, a district attorney’s office spokesman, said that Arroyo faces up to 25 years in prison.

The charges stemmed from his involvement in a 2011 attack. Rice said that he and two other men beat and tied up several North Bellmore residents in their home near Bellmore Avenue and Fowler Street before robbing them.

Rice said that Arroyo and two accomplices, Eduardo Cruz and Carlos Segura, got out of a car driven by Dario Guerrero and approached the home at about 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2011. Cruz entered through the unlocked front door and beat a female resident, Shabnam Sumra, before signaling to Segura and Arroyo to come inside. Segura, armed with a gun, and Cruz and Arroyo, armed with knives, tied up three residents and searched for money, officials said.

Haris Sumra, who was 20 at the time, previously told the Herald Life that his mother, Shabnam, his father, Arshad, and a family friend had their wrists and ankles bound. Seven thousand dollars in cash was stolen.

During the robbery, a male resident of the home, who had been out during the robbery, returned home. Rice said that when he tried to open the front door, Arroyo grabbed him and tried to pull him inside. The resident broke free of Arroyo and ran from the house into the street, shouting for help. The three assailants fled the house and got into a waiting car, but they were spotted by responding Nassau County Police Department officers driving east on Merrick Road into Merrick.

When officers stopped the car, they reportedly ordered all four men out and tried to arrest Cruz, who resisted, refusing to be handcuffed. Segura and Guerrero jumped back into the car and drove straight at one officer, who fired his gun at the car, striking Guerrero in the left leg.

Arroyo ran off but was arrested a short time later, as was Cruz. Guerrero was arrested after a traffic stop on Sunrise Highway in Wantagh. Segura was arrested in a cab heading back to Brooklyn after a traffic stop on the Southern State Parkway.

Arroyo is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26.