By:LARRY MAIER
Standing in the driveway of her family's home on Highland Street in Baldwin, her voice low and trembling, the mother of a young women who was assaulted and robbed in front of her own house early on Sunday morning, June 3, by a masked man brandishing a gun, spoke of her daughter's, and their family's, terrible nightmare.
In order to protect her 23-year old daughter's privacy, the women asked that their names not be disclosed.
According to the mother's account and police reports, the young woman arrived home at approximately 1:15 a.m. that Sunday morning when a male wearing a ski mask and holding a gun emerged from the bushes and assaulted her.
"He waited until my daughter put her key in the lock and then he tried to push his way in," said the distressed woman, pointing to the row of hedges to the right of the door where the robber hid himself.
The woman said her daughter started screaming and struggling with the man, which awoke her and her husband. The couple ran from their bedroom to find their daughter fighting to close the door on the man as he struggled for her belongings. The man fled when the girl's parents arrived and the family called 911.
He got away with the young woman's pocketbook, book bag, other personal papers and property, and some cash.
After he fled, the immediate threat was over and no one was hurt physically. However, said the girl's mother, the emotional wounds from that evening will remain with the family for a long time.
"Our lives have been altered," she said as she took off her sunglasses and revealed tear-filled eyes. "Not only is our daughter a victim but so is everyone else."
She described her daughter's present condition as "nervous, suspicious, and alarmed." The entire family, she said, is on edge.
The only good news from that unfortunate evening was that the family's second daughter was sleeping over a friend's house that night. "Or else she would have been sitting inside watching T.V," the woman said, perhaps in harms way, or perhaps a target herself.
Two in one weekend
Sunday morning's armed robbery on Highland Street was not the only one in Baldwin that weekend.
The Radio Shack,located at 1779 Grand Avenue, was also robbed at gunpoint. According to police reports, on Friday, June 1, at 8:45 p.m., a man with a medium build wearing a ski mask and armed with a handgun entered the store, approached the cashier and demanded money. He cleaned out the register and fled on foot.
The two employees and the one customer who were in the store were not injured.
The two weekend robberies have some Baldwin residents worried that this summer may be like last year, when residents experienced a string of burglaries. Many of those break-ins occurred while the victims were at home and several resulted in confrontations.
Similar burglary patterns were also seen in Freeport and Rockville Centre last summer.
Police arrested a Freeport man last September in connection with 18 Baldwin burglaries. He was also charged with 16 burglaries in Freeport and 10 in Roosevelt.
Despite the robberies, police say that there is no need for Baldwin residents to panic and think another crime spree is on the way.
"We think these are isolated incidents," said 1st Squad Detective Sgt. Gorddard. Though both police reports list similar descriptions of the perpetrators, Gorddard said that the police do not believe, at this time, that it was the same man. "We always leave that possibility open but we don't have anything positive to say we believe it's the same guy," he said.
Gorddard said the Highland Street victim was fortunate to have not been hurt. He encourages victims of similar crimes to give up their belongings to avoid getting injured. He also recommends getting a good description of the individual and calling 911 immediately.
The best defense against neighborhood burglaries and robberies, said Gorddard, is a concerned neighborhood where people watch out for one another. Residents should call the police if they notice any suspicious individuals or vehicles on their streets. "Anytime there is a question, call us," Gorddard said.
One neighbor of the Highland Street victim, who also wished to remain anonymous, described her street as "a quiet street in a quiet neighborhood." She said she feels badly for the young victim and will keep an extra sharp eye out for troublemakers in the neighborhood.
"It gives me a funny feeling," said the woman, who has lived on the block for over 40 years. "It's really a terrible, rotten thing."
