Officer assists in arrest of suspected bank robber

Lt. Brett Curtis has made a number of arrests since he joined the Long Beach Police Department 17 years ago. But one of the biggest collars he has ever made came when he was off-duty and had assisted Nassau County Police in the arrest of a suspected bank robber in Oceanside.

Last Sunday, On Oct. 9, Curtis was driving on Waukena Avenue in Oceanside shortly before 2 pm. He was notified by the city police department that a robbery had taken place. He spotted a man walking on Waukena who matched the description of the suspect – a beard, heavy-set man.

Curtis followed the man in his car. He called the Nassau County Police Department and asked if a suspect had been arrested.

“I told them I had seen an individual walking in Waukena Avenue” who fit the description.

“I kept watching him for three or four blocks,” Curtis said. “Then the Nassau County police came and I let them make the first contact” with the suspect.

The man was handcuffed and arrested without resistance. Later, a rifle was found in the man’s Long Beach home.

He was identified as Joseph Dahmen, 38. Nassau County Police said Dahmen entered a TD Bank branch at 247 Long Beach Rd., and went up to a teller and handed her a note demanding an undetermined amount of cash, according to police. Dahmen then reportedly ran away after getting about $600.

Dahmen was charged with third-degree robbery.

Curtis had worked for the New York City Police Department for three years before joining the Long Beach force.