By Mike Schnitzel
Police arrested two men after the manhunt that morning. The search lasted several hours, during which police sealed off a four-block area in the village as armed officers ran through backyards and schools were locked down.
James Gadson, 19, of St. Albans, and Brandon Alexander, 20, of Laurelton, were on their way to commit another robbery, Nassau County Police Department spokesman Detective Mike Bitsko said, when they were apprehended after their vehicle was identified as having been involved in a string of 28 robberies in Nassau and Queens dating back to April. Police said those robberies involved convenience stores, gas stations and fast-food restaurants, including a robbery at a Franklin Square Wendy's on Sept. 21. Officials have confirmed that there are a total of four suspects, and that two are still at large.
At 10:15 a.m. last Friday, police said, 5th Precinct officers Joseph DeSantis and James Lee received a signal from a LoJack vehicle tracking device while on routine patrol on Merrick Road near Karlston Place in Valley Stream. When the officers attempted to stop a stolen 1998 Jeep Cherokee, the vehicle sped west on Merrick Road, and eventually the four men in the Jeep abandoned it in the driveway of a home on Brook Place, a short residential street off East Mineola Avenue. Witnesses saw a number of suspects fleeing the area, Bitsko said.
"I saw one man flee down East Mineola Avenue and another down at the end of Cleveland Street," said a resident who declined to give her name. "Someone told me at first that there was a carjacking, but then I saw helicopters and then the SWAT team came."
Witnesses said they could not tell whether any of the men who were fleeing were armed. Police said they recovered a .44 caliber gun, but would not say where it was found. They also said that a substance believed to be heroin was recovered from Gadson.
One officer was injured while searching a warehouse during the manhunt, police said. According to Bitsko, the officer underwent surgery for a broken wrist at Mercy Medical Center and has since been released from the hospital. An area homeowner was also injured, bitten by a police dog involved in the search, police said.
Alexander and Gadson were charged with first-degree attempted robbery, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.
Alexander has been linked by police to two robberies. Officials said he was involved in a Feb. 14 incident at DA Wireless on Jericho Turnpike in New Hyde Park and a June 18 robbery of a Citgo station in the same area. Alexander was charged with two additional counts of first-degree robbery. Gadson was charged with one count of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Both suspects were arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Sept. 30. Alexander is being held without bail, while Gadson is being held on $250,000 cash bail. An investigation is continuing, police said.
Public schools throughout Valley Stream were in varying degrees of lockdown during the search. District 13-s assistant superintendent for business, Meredith Brosnan, said that students were not allowed outside during recess. In District 24, extra security precautions were taken, and children were not allowed out of the building without parents carrying proper identification, Superintendent Dr. Edward Fale said. Schools in District 30 and the Central High School District were also locked down, according to district officials.
Comments about this story? MSchnitzel@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
