By: Hector Flores
According to Nassau County Police, on Feb. 5, at 10:05 p.m., an unidentified black man (6 feet tall, weighing about 200 pounds and wearing dark clothes and a dark mask) entered the store at 2741 Jerusalem Ave. He grabbed the clerk, Anil Arcot, and demanded money.
Arcot wrestled with the robber until he fell outside the store and ran away. The clerk used his cell phone to call police. The robber walked to a parked four-door sedan, which an accomplice drove, and the car sped off, northbound on Harrison Street.
Arcot was unharmed, but this isn't the first time robbers have targeted North Bellmore and Bellmore stores. Last Aug. 20, a Commack man, Nicholas Inversa, was arrested in connection with an Aug. 8 robbery of a BP gas station on Merrick Road in Bellmore. Inversa and his accomplice were believed to be involved in six robberies, including those of an Amoco station in Woodbury on Aug. 8, a Gulf station in Levittown on Aug. 6, an Exxon station in Carle Place on Aug. 6 and a Citgo station in Bellmore on June 25.
Police said that since January, North Bellmore and Bellmore have had no sex crimes, one home burglary, four business burglaries, 13 grand larcenies (involving the theft of an item worth more than $1,000 from a store), six stolen vehicles and two robberies.
Reinaldo Nunez, president of the North Bellmore Civic Association, believes the best way to deter crime -- at least along Jerusalem Avenue -- is to have a more organized business community. "If Jerusalem Avenue was more organized and put together better, it would give a sense of protection," Nunez said. "If you go to Garden City, you will have to think twice about stealing anything in there because everything looks so organized. But on Jerusalem Avenue, everything looks so disorganized, you don't have a feeling of protection."
The North Bellmore Civic Association is seeking monetary support for a beautification project of Jerusalem Avenue, from Newbridge Road to the Bellmore-Wantagh border at Oakfield Avenue. The project calls for the changing of a sidewalk to brick, conversion of street lights to ornamental lights, installation of a four-sided clock tower with a welcome sign and a town map, and placement of benches, shade trees and wastebaskets.
Beautification, however, doesn't guarantee that crimes won't be committed. Town of Hempstead Councilman Gary Hudes, a Republican of Levittown, spearheaded the beautification of Bellmore when he was president of the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce. "Crime will happen no matter what," he said.
Hudes noted, however, that "beautification projects are vital for small-business districts and add to the property value of every community. That is why we, as [town] council members, work with [Supervisor] Kate Murray to revitalize small-business areas in decay."
Lt. Kevin Smith, a Nassau County Police Department spokesman, said that beautifying a business district could help reduce crime, but only if it included more lights, which brighten store fronts, making it hard for criminals to hide. The lights also provide police with a better view of what's going on outside a store.
The district should also have security lights that are placed high so they are more difficult to remove. Shrubbery should be cut down so that windows are not blocked. Video surveillance cameras should be visible. And last, big store signs should be removed from windows. This way, police officers can get a better view of what is going on inside a store.
"Well-lit parking lots add to the safety of customers and employees," Smith said. "Usually, well-lit areas are a deterrent against loitering. We also recommend that the side of buildings be lit as well. And when it comes to graffiti, it is important to remove it in less than 24 hours. This alone will deter people from coming back, because people who write graffiti just want to see their mark."
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