By:Angela Marshall
Quick police work and lucky circumstances led to the arrest of six robbers as they fled the scene of a brazen heist at Concord Jewelers on North Park Avenue Monday afternoon. As many as three additional suspects were still at large when the Herald went to press on Tuesday.
The small, inconspicuous jewelry store might have seemed like the perfect target, but what the crooks didn-t know was that the owner was on the phone with the Rockville Centre commissioner of police when they entered the store.
Following up on another matter, Police Commissioner Jack McKeon called Concord Jewelers at about 2 p.m. Monday. A few minutes into the conversation, the owner of the store, Tony Mostowfi, said a couple had come in to look at engagement rings and was making him nervous. The commissioner quickly got off the phone and sent cars to the scene. He tried calling the store back but got no answer. At that point, he was sure something bad was happening at Concord.
According to police, the couple soon left but let two men in, bypassing the store-s buzzed-entry system. One of the men pulled out a handgun and announced a robbery. Five more men piled into the store. As Mostowfi, a male employee and a female customer were taken to the back of the store and tied up, the robbers smashed the display cases and ransacked the store.
When Rockville Centre police arrived, the robbers fled the store, their shopping bags full of loot spilling onto the sidewalk. After a number of foot pursuits, six subjects were apprehended and much of the jewelry was recovered. The police were assisted by two Rockville Centre volunteer firefighters who are off-duty New York City police officers.
Shalom Messilaty, owner of the Bagelry, two stores down from Concord, was searching for a parking spot when the heist occurred. As police chased the robbers, he walked past the jewelry store and saw the employee and customer, still tied up, hopping awkwardly toward the front of the store. She was hysterical, he said of the customer. Messilaty couldn-t get in to help them because of the buzzer system.
The employee had been punched in the face and was bleeding profusely, according to Messilaty. He was later taken to Mercy Medical Center and treated for facial abrasions.
It was a big shock, Messilaty continued, saying what a great neighborhood he works in. Everybody knows everybody. He was impressed by the quick response of the police department. They did a great job, he said.
Monday night, residents and employees from neighboring businesses stopped at the yellow police tape to stare at the crime scene. They shook their heads and asked reporters and police about the well-being of Mostowfi. Original reports had erroneously said the owner or an employee had been pistol-whipped. He-s a very nice family guy, said one man as he stared at the smashed display cases and the glass-covered carpet. I hope he-s OK.
All six suspects were charged with first-degree robbery and were scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday in First District Court.
Naquon Armstead, 23, of Brooklyn, was arrested on Lakeview Avenue in Lakeview by Lynbrook police officer Frank Sharp and NYPD officer John Glynn. Wynett Bell, 22, and Kareem Davis, 25, both of Brooklyn, were arrested on North Park Avenue by Rockville Centre police officer Stanley Oleksiak. Darrel Singleton, 30, of Springfield Gardens, Queens, was arrested in the 7 Eleven parking lot on Merrick Road by NYPD Detective Louis Franco. Shariff Owens, 29, of Brooklyn, was arrested in the Astoria Bank parking lot on Merrick Road by Rockville Centre police officer Alberto Melendez. Sean Hightower, 19, of Jamaica, Queens, was arrested inside 55 Lenox Road by Nassau County police officers Steven Paul, Frank Sicker and Stephen Firestone. Hightower was also charged with third-degree criminal trespass.
