by Jerry Burke
It happened last Monday, Nov. 11, at about 8:40 p.m. Police said the 33-year-old woman, whom they did not identify, was putting her purchases in her car at the Franklin Avenue supermarket when a young man snatched her purse from the shopping cart and ran to his car. Police said the woman decided to run after her assailant.
Before she caught up with him, the suspect accelerated his car and hit the victim head on, forcing her onto the hood. She held on for about 20 feet before rolling to the ground. She was taken to Franklin Hospital Medical Center and treated for minor cuts and bruises on her head and shoulders.
The next night, an observant off-duty NYPD officer spotted a man matching the suspect's description in the King Kullen supermarket parking lot in Garden City Park and called Nassau County police. After a brief chase, the suspect, whom police identified as 24-year-old Sean Dalpiaz of Malverne, was involved in a crash at the intersection of Old Country Road and Herricks Road in Garden City Park.
Third Squad Det. Lt. Arthur McLoughlin said Dalpiaz, despite suffering from facial lacerations and possible internal injuries, ran from his car and led police on a half-mile chase on foot before they caught up with him. He was arrested in a 7-Eleven parking lot and brought to Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola for treatment.
According to McLoughlin, police didn't have to go far to find the evidence they were looking for. "We found five purses in the auto," said McLoughlin, including the one from the Franklin Square case. In addition, police said, the other purses linked Dalpiaz to four other supermarket snatchings, three in Nassau and one in Queens.
The trouble for Dalpiaz doesn't end there. Police say he was in possession of some of his victims' credit cards, which had recently been used illegally. He was charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree attempted robbery (for a botched attempt on a woman at an ATM in Floral Park on Nov. 9), second-degree assault, fourth-degree larceny, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and leaving the scene of an accident. He was arraigned at the hospital on Thursday, and the Nassau County District Attorney's office has not ruled out additional charges.
Dalpiaz could not be reached for comment on the charges. The hospital would not comment on the extent of his injuries, but police do not believe them to be severe.
