By Hector Flores and Scott Brinton
Jodi Albanese, 34, of Lynbrook was charged with second-degree hindering prosecution for allegedly hiding Jason Girdler and Sean Kinney from police. Sgt. Michael Bolitho of the Nassau County Police Department said Albanese was staying with Girdler, Kinney, and his son at the house, which Albanese owns.
Bolitho added that the home had two apartments, and someone else was living upstairs. Kinney and Girdler took the first floor, where they were doing construction work.
Authorities allege that Girdler, 23, and Paul Kinney, 35, of Selden, in Suffolk County, robbed a taxi driver at gunpoint on July 12 in Bellmore. Police say Girdler and Kinney took the taxi from Far Rockaway to Bellmore, stopping at Bellmore Avenue and Boundary Road. There, one of the men pulled out a handgun and demanded money, authorities allege.
Police scoured the Bellmore neighborhood where Girdler and Kinney had been seen last. Authorities handed out fliers to residents, asking for their help in tracking the pair down. On July 22, police stopped cars on Bellmore Avenue and passed out photos of the two suspects, which were taken by a camera mounted inside the taxi.
Neighbors tipped police off that Girdler and Kinney were hiding out in a recently renovated house at 2776 Judith Drive. Police nabbed Kinney outside the home at 11:35 p.m. on Friday. With him was his 9-year-old son, who police said accompanied his father and Girdler during the alleged taxi robbery.
Girdler holed up in the house on the first floor. Neighbors said he nailed the front door shut. Dozens of police officers descended on the normally quiet street and cordoned off the area. Residents said police surrounded the home and posted officers in yards up and down the block. A neighbor's house became a police command center.
Wearing full body armor, Special Operations officers finally moved in on Girdler through a garage entrance at 10:40 a.m. Saturday. He surrendered without incident.
Bellmore attorney David Weiss, who lives nearby, said police sounded bullhorns around 3 a.m. on Saturday, calling on Girdler to give himself up without a fight. They also set off a concussion grenade. At 4 a.m., they repeated the process.
Weiss said he felt no fear throughout the ordeal. He said police had the situation under control from the start. "I was so impressed with the police," he said. "It was just an incredibly well-run operation. They went out of their way to be helpful to neighbors."
Weiss said that a number of Judith Drive residents couldn't get to their homes because the street was blocked off. Using riot shields, officers escorted people to their homes, keeping their bodies between Girdler and the residents.
"We felt very well protected by what was around us," Weiss said.
The three suspects were arraigned on Sunday, July 24, at First District Court in Hempstead. In addition to robbery, Girdler was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Police said that Kinney and Girdler are also under investigation for a second robbery in New York City.
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
