By Angela Marshall and Cris Italia
The string of robberies occurred in Oceanside, Long Beach and Rockville Centre between Sept. 15 and 19. In all cases a gun and knife were displayed. Victims of the Rockville Centre and Oceanside robberies were taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries caused when they were struck on the head by the robbers.
On Sept. 19, the same night as the Rockville Centre robbery, a Lynbrook man was found dead outside his home. Anthony Battaglia, 47, was shot and stabbed, and police believe robbery was the motive for the attack.
Police describe the first subject as a white male, possibly Hispanic, 19 to 23 years old. He stands between 5 feet 7 and 5 feet 9, has a round faced, dark eyes, a light complexion, short black hair and possibly a thin mustache, and is armed with a handgun. He was wearing a white sun visor (backward), a light-colored short-sleeve shirt and dark pants.
The second suspect is a male, possibly Hispanic, 16 to 19 years old. He stands 5 feet 10 to 6 feet 1 and has a narrow face, a very thin build, a medium complexion and possibly a mustache and goatee. He was seen wearing a light blue basketball-type jersey with dark blue vertical stripes running from the shoulder to the waist. He was armed with an unknown object that he used to strike some of the victims in the head.
Police say these two suspects, along with two others, fled the scenes of the attacks in a four-door, light-colored SUV, possibly a Nissan X-Terra.
There is now a $25,000 reward for information leading to the killers' arrests. Police are asking anyone who recognizes the two men in the sketches to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS. All calls are confidential.
