Cops: Valley Stream man robbed 2 banks

A Valley Stream man was arrested last Saturday in Massapequa in connection with two bank robberies that were committed on Aug. 4.

Nassau County police said that Elvi Rodriguez, 32, of Rockaway Avenue, entered the Citibank at 297 Merrick Road in Rockville Centre at 1:21 p.m. on Aug. 4, handed a teller a note and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Police said that Rodriguez did the same thing at the Roslyn Savings Bank at 3140 Long Beach Road in Oceanside about 20 minutes after the Rockville Centre robbery. He fled that scene in a blue Ford pickup truck, which was later recovered.

No injuries were reported in either incident.

Rodriguez was identified during the subsequent investigation, police said. He was allegedly located in a stolen car, a 2009 Suzuki SX4, outside a home on Arlyn Drive East in Massapequa. The car, which belonged to an East Rockaway resident, had been stolen from the back of a Park Avenue location in Rockville Centre on Friday.

Police said that Rodriguez resisted arrest but was eventually placed in custody. He reportedly had three pills of the sleep medication zolpidem, the generic name for Ambien.

Rodriguez was charged with two counts of third-degree robbery, third-degree possession of stolen property, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. He was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead last Saturday. He is being held in Nassau County jail in lieu of a $115,000 cash or bond bail. His next court appearance was scheduled for Wednesday.

Rodriguez was previously arrested in December for the second-degree assault of a peace officer. He pleaded guilty to that charge in June.