By Karenlyn Barone
The sketches are the result of interviews with earlier robbery victims from Rockville Centre, Oceanside and Long Beach. According to the police department, the robberies appear to be linked to the murder.
The first suspect is described as a white male, possibly Hispanic, between 19 and 23 years old, with a light complexion, a round face, dark eyes and short black hair. It's possible he had a thin mustache. He is reported to be between 5 feet 7 and 5 feet 9, and was wearing a white sun visor backward, a light-colored short-sleeve shirt and dark pants. He was armed with a handgun.
The second suspect is a white male, possibly Hispanic, between 16 and 19, with a very thin build, a narrow face and medium complexion. He is between 5 feet 10 and 6 feet 1 and possibly has a mustache and goatee. He was reportedly wearing a light-blue basketball jersey with dark-blue vertical stripes running from the shoulder to the waist. The suspect was armed with an unknown object that he allegedly used to strike some of his victims in the head.
According to police, the suspects, along with two others yet to be described, fled the scenes of the attacks in a four-door, light-colored sport utility vehicle, possibly a Nissan X-Terra.
A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the murder of Battaglia. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (800) 244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
