By Matt Hampton
It was the second “push-in” robbery in Elmont in less than a month in which the members of a family were tied up in their own home.
Shortly after 3 a.m., a local man in his early 20’s returned to his parents’ home, where he lives, to find a man waiting for him at the front door, brandishing a gun, according to police. The armed man forced his way into the home, and was followed by three associates. The group woke up the rest of the family, tied them up and ransacked the house, looking for cash and easily pilfered electronics, police said. After taking an undisclosed amount of cash and valuables, the men left the house, piled into a van and sped away from the scene.
“The young man was able to free himself and call the police,” said Detective Lt. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department. “He then gave a description of a van he had seen parked at the curb as the act was unfolding.”
While several officers responded to the house, two who were on patrol on Meecham Avenue in Elmont located the van and attempted to pull it over, using a siren, flashing lights and warnings from the police cruiser’s P.A. system, according to a police report. The van ignored the warnings and sped west into Queens, where the officers gave chase. Once inside city limits, the van bobbed and weaved up and down side streets, police said.
“The subjects in the van opened fire on the police vehicle,” Smith said, “striking it in the hood and the windshield.” Smith added that gunfire came from the van only when it was slowing down to make a turn. Several NYPD cruisers joined in the chase, which lasted less than 10 minutes. When pursuers finally cornered the van, the driver got out and lay face down on the concrete, as instructed, while the other three men got out of the other side of the vehicle and, according to police, walked toward the officers attempting to arrest them.
“It appeared one of the defendants made a furtive movement to his waist,” Smith said. “One of our officers had to shoot at that point.” The suspect, Gary Spencer, 50, of Jamaica, was struck in the shoulder. All four men were arrested, and Spencer was taken to a New York City hospital, where he was arraigned.
Spencer, along with Jonathan Spencer, 23, of St. Albans, Isaac Holland, 25, of Queens Village, and driver Matthew Romain, 32, of Jamaica, were all charged with multiple crimes, including attempted murder, criminal use of a firearm and first-degree robbery.
Smith said that despite the recent spate of push-in robberies, residents should not be alarmed or fear for their safety. “It does not appear that this was a random incident,” he said. “This just doesn’t happen, usually. It appears to be, for some reason, one of the people in that house was targeted.”
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