By Hector Flores
According to Sgt. Gary Schriffen of the Nassau County Police Department, two armed men entered the Roslyn Savings Bank on Merrick Road in Bellmore on Tuesday, March 8, at 12:05 p.m. Once inside, one of them jumped over the counter and grabbed an undisclosed amount of cash. The two then ran out the back door.
A bank customer, who was not identified by police, was outside and saw the two alleged robbers enter a red Toyota Highlander, which police said was stolen. The customer followed the suspects in his car to the King Kullen parking lot on Sunrise Highway in Bellmore.
Police said the alleged robbers parked the Toyota and got into a blue Chevrolet Impala with Pennsylvania license plates. The bank customer called police, told them that the suspects had changed cars and gave them a description of the new vehicle. John Scalesi, a volunteer firefighter with the Bellmore Fire Department, was picking up dry-cleaning when he heard about the robbery on his hand-held radio scanner and joined the pursuit.
According to Schriffen, Scalesi and the bank customer kept police updated with vehicle description and location information on their cell phones.
The alleged robbers were stopped when 7th Precinct police officers Dominic Guadagno and Christopher McCarthy, along with emergency-service police officers Kenneth Mazzie and Richard Lester, blocked the eastbound lanes of the Southern State Parkway near Wantagh Avenue in Wantagh. The suspects were taken into custody at 12:20 p.m., 15 minutes after the robbery took place.
Arrested were Rufus Duff, 37, of Amityville, and Gerald Powell, 60, who had no known address. Both were charged with two counts of first-degree robbery, one count each of first-degree criminal use of a firearm and first-degree unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
