By Jeff Lipton
The suspect, Reginald Gousse, 31, of 230th Street in Rosedale, Queens, was indicted on Thursday, March 3, on charges relating to a May 20, 2004, incident at CLB Check Cashing on Linden Boulevard in St. Albans, Queens, officials said. According to police, the suspect, armed with a handgun and posing as a police officer, stopped a vehicle being driven by the husband of a 32-year-old female employee of the check-cashing outlet. The man had picked up his wife and a 25-year-old female co-worker after work, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
The suspect, pretending to be a police officer, placed the three victims in plastic handcuffs and forced them at gunpoint into his vehicle, authorities said. He then drove them back to the check-cashing outlet, where he demanded money, officials said. The victims handed over an undetermined amount of Metrocards, and the suspect also allegedly stole personal property from two of the victims.
When police arrived at the scene, the suspect fled with the husband, who was released unharmed later that night, authorities said. "Fortunately, police were alerted while the crime was in progress and responded to the scene, prompting the defendant to flee with a hostage -- the husband of one of the female employees -- who was later released unharmed," said Brown. "The crime was violent and ruthless and has left the victims deeply traumatized."
Gousse was charged in a seven-count indictment with first-degree robbery, second-degree kidnapping and first-degree criminal impersonation. He faces 25 years in prison on each count, if convicted. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in Queens Supreme Court last week before Judge James P. Griffin, who ordered him remanded without bail. He is scheduled to return to the Queens courtroom on March 30.
Gousse was charged on Feb. 11 with second-degree murder in the shooting death of James Gottlieb, 49, a father of three from Garden City South. Police said that on Jan. 5, Gottlieb, who had left work at HSBC Bank, at 125 Cedarhurst Ave. in Cedarhurst, was gunned down by Gousse, who was posing a police officer and driving an SUV equipped with blue and white police-style lights. Police said Gousse wanted Gottlieb's keys to the bank, but the assistant bank manager resisted his demands and was fatally shot.
Law enforcement sources in Queens said they were led to Gousse and his alleged involvement in the May 20 crime after his arrest in the Gottlieb murder. "We looked at him for the signature nature of the crime, for someone posing as a police officer," said one source.
Gousse is also under investigation for similar crimes committed in Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau, including a robbery and kidnapping of a manager at Waldbaum's in North Lawrence last April. Police said they believe that a month after Gousse was released from prison after serving a six-year term for a police impersonation in Queens in 1998, he followed the night manager from Waldbaum's to Cambria Heights, where he pulled her over with a siren and flashing lights. He handcuffed her, brought her back to the supermarket and forced her to open a safe containing more than $11,700, police said.
Detective Sgt. Dennis Barry of the Nassau County Homicide Squad said that case is still under investigation, and that a grand jury would decide whether to indict Gousse for that crime on Wednesday, March 9. "After that, we might know more," Barry said. Gousse is also due back in Nassau County court for a hearing on the same day for the Gottlieb murder.
Gottlieb's widow, Elizabeth, who attended Gousse's arraignment after he was charged with the murder of her husband, said she would attend all court proceedings on the case. "I am going to be there, following it all the way through the legal process," she said.
Gousse's attorneys did not return calls for comment.
Comments about this story? JLipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
