By Anthony Rifilato
One of his coworkers was Eric Andre, a 35-year-old Baldwin resident who was arrested on Oct. 20 for armed robbery of a Baldwin clothing store.
McGowan had quit Petland last month because, he said, Andre had become too frightening to work with.
"I told management, 'You're going to have problems with this guy'," said McGowan, a Long Beach resident.
Several employees said that Andre, who had worked at the store for several weeks as an assistant manager, had been a belligerent and
ill-tempered individual, though some passing acquaintances have said that Andre was a "nice guy."
Employees' fears weren't quelled when they heard Andre allegedly robbed The Avenue clothing store in Baldwin a day after he was fired on Thursday, Oct. 17.
"Yeah, he was violent," said one Petland employee who refused to give his name. "He had threatened people."
Andre was identified by employees at The Avenue who were familiar with him. Prior to working at the Freeport location, Andre had
worked at Petland in Baldwin next door to The Avenue. Andre made off with $300 on Oct. 18 and was still at large and being sought by police until his arrest on Sunday, Oct. 20.
At press time, he was still being held at Nassau County jail and a hearing is scheduled for Nov. 6. His bail has been set at $50,000 cash. Andre was not available to speak to a reporter at the jail at press time.
Andre has been charged with third degree armed robbery, which carries a maximum sentence of two to seven years in jail. If The Avenue robbery is his first offense, the minimum amount of punishment carries no jail time. According to Nassau County Police, Andre has no prior convictions in Nassau County.
It was an ominous weekend for Petland employees.
Between the time of The Avenue robbery and the arrest, co-workers and customers who knew Andre said they were on edge as the police searched for their suspect. They didn't know whether Petland would be Andre's next target.
But something did happen to a Petland employee while Andre was still eluding police.
A Petland store manager was allegedly robbed while making a night deposit at Fleet Bank on 187 Merrick Road in Freeport at 9:37 p.m. that Saturday. According to a police report, two assailants wore masks and threatened the depositor with a gun. The robbers took an undisclosed amount of cash.
Andre has not been charged with the bank robbery and police refused to say whether Andre or others are suspects in the case. Although Andre hasn't been charged, employees said they believe the incident was too coincidental.
McGowan said he was wary something might happen that Saturday. He had skipped work that day because he had an argument with Andre two weeks prior and was afraid for his life, especially after he heard about The Avenue robbery.
McGowan said that Andre had become so irate when he told him
he was leaving work early one night to catch a train home, that he
threatened to use violence and swore that he would go after McGowan with a mob of people.
"He [Andre] went off screaming at me because I was leaving early to catch a train and that the floor wasn't swept," McGowan said. "He called me names and was in my face."
McGowan said he reported the threats to a Petland district manager, Bruce Sanders. But McGowan said the corporate response to Andre's threats was tepid. Sanders refused to comment for this story.
"The next day I told my boss that I couldn't be worried that someone was going to attack me," McGowan said. "I also told Bruce I didn't feel safe and he told me it wasn't his issue. I said, 'You have my two weeks notice.'"
For the next two weeks, McGowan asked for a schedule change in order to avoid a confrontation with Andre. McGowan's last day was supposed to be Oct. 19, but after he heard about The Avenue robbery, he decided to skip work.
"It's not worth it," McGowan said.
Andre's termination from Petland was for a rather minor mistake in contrast to his angry outburst, according to McGowan, who said Andre was fired on Oct. 17 for leaving an employee inside Petland alone while he left for several hours.
Apparently, Andre wasn't pleased about his termination. According to McGowan and another source who asked not to be named, Andre had returned the day he was fired to ask for money and the whereabouts of a coworker, but was asked to leave the store.
On Oct. 19, Andre, a wanted man, called the Petland manager, Eric Gallerson, and again asked for money and made additional threats, a source said. Gallerson refused to comment for this story.
McGowan said he feels some of his earlier warnings should have raised some alarms and that Petland management should have been more receptive to Andre's threats.
"Was I shocked? Yes and no," McGowan said of Andre's erratic behavior and arrest. "I just thought he was after me. But Petland should have been more thorough."
