By LARRY MAIER
The 43-year old suspect, Larry Ellis, of Chicago, was arrested at the Stop and Shop in Hempstead on Thursday, Jan. 10. According to police, the suspect aroused the suspicion of the store's manager when he attempted to purchase over $1,000 worth of cigarettes using gift cards. The manager called police, who, after arriving on the scene, were able to trace the cards to a Catholic school in Milford, Connecticut, which had been previously robbed.
After a joint investigation by the Hempstead Police Department, the county's Crimes Against Property Squad and Third Squad detectives, police charged Ellis with three counts of burglary. Police say they have linked Ellis to a break-in at St. Barnabus Elementary School in Bellmore on Oct. 5, one at St. Joseph's Elementary School in Garden City on Oct. 8 and another at the St. Boniface rectory in Sea Cliff on Nov. 23.
Det. Sgt. Lucy Guido of the Crimes Against Property Squad said that Ellis is also a suspect in 14 other church burglaries in Nassau County, including the Dec. 28 break-in at St. Joachim School in Cedarhurst. In that break-in, a rear window was smashed and several interior doors were damaged. In addition, an unknown amount of change was taken. Police said they also questioned him about the break-in at St. Joseph's R.C. Church in Hewlett last month, in which the loss was estimated at $5,000, officials said. Even though he has not been charged with those [two], the best way to put it is that he has been implicated in those, Guido said. We believe he was responsible for those as well but we're still investigating.
Ellis is also a suspect in 11 church robberies in Suffolk County, a series of burglaries in Lansdale, Pa. and was wanted on a Chicago parole violation. Ellis, who police say had been staying at the Quality Inn in Hempstead since mid-September, was arraigned Saturday, Jan. 12 at First District Court in Hempstead.
