Two North Merrick convenience stores robbed at gunpoint

An unidentified man wearing a black ski mask and brandishing a black handgun on April 30 robbed convenience stores in North Merrick and Baldwin, according to police.

The robber, described by authorities as a white man between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10, weighing 180 pounds and wearing all-black clothing, is said to have hit two convenience stores within a half-hour of each other early last Wednesday: the Fast Break at 1066 Merrick Ave. in North Merrick and the 7-Eleven at 713 Atlantic Ave. in Baldwin.

He struck the Fast Break at 1:30 a.m., demanding money from a male clerk, according to police. He ran off with the money, police said. The same man allegedly then held up the 7-Eleven at 1:59 a.m., demanding cash from a male clerk before running off eastbound on Atlantic Avenue. No one was injured in either robbery, according to police. Officials did not disclose how much money the robber stole.

Someone with a similar physical description — a white man, 5-foot-8, with a thin build, and wearing a mask, black-hooded sweatshirt and beige pants — used a black handgun at 3:35 a.m. on Saturday, May 3, to rob the 7-Eleven at 1555 Jerusalem Ave. in North Merrick, according to police. Officials said a clerk handed over cash from the register, and the robber ran westbound on Jerusalem Avenue. No one was injured, and police did not say how much money the robber stole.

Officer Jean Deluca Scalone, a Nassau County Police Department spokeswoman, said police noted the similarities between the Jerusalem Avenue 7-Eleven robbery and the other two robberies, but they have not determined whether the same man committed all three. Their investigation is ongoing, Deluca Scalone said.

Anyone with information about these crimes can call Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.