By: Anthony Rifilato
Police arrested Teddy Blair, 31, of 225 Macon St. in Brooklyn, after he and three other men, armed and wearing ski masks, entered the RadioShack at 1690 Sunrise Highway in Merrick on Jan. 14 at about 11:10 a.m., police said.
The men forced two employees and two customers into a rear storage room, where they bound them with tape before snatching electronic items.
"They roughed them up and took personal items," said Lt. Kevin Smith, though he added that none of the victims were injured.
Since October, police have been investigating a string of related armed robberies in Baldwin, Merrick and Inwood, and Nassau police are working with the Suffolk County and New York City police departments after similar robberies were reported there. Police said Blair is believed to be one of many men involved in the robberies.
The men, always armed and wearing masks, have targeted the same locations twice, mostly at night, when there are few witnesses, and left the scene before the victims were able to free themselves and call police. Just two weeks ago, the RadioShack in Baldwin was robbed for the second time in four months.
But police finally got a break last week, when a Town of Hempstead worker in Merrick witnessed the latest robbery and notified the authorities.
When the suspects fled the RadioShack parking lot in two cars, another Town of Hempstead worker followed one of the vehicles, a white Chevy that Blair was driving, onto the Southern State Parkway, until Nassau County police and New York State Police arrived and gave chase all the way to the Belt Parkway, where they were joined by the NYPD.
While attempting to flee, Blair hit two police cars, said Sgt. Gary Schriffen of the Nassau County Robbery Squad, and two police officers sustained minor injuries during the chase.
As Blair, the only person in the Chevy, reached the North Conduit Ave. and 225th Street exit, he lost control of the car and struck a pole. He fled, leaving a loaded handgun behind, then hopped over a fence and into a backyard as police ran after him.
But it was all over -- some 33 minutes after Blair entered the Merrick RadioShack -- when police nabbed him on Mentone Street in Queens. "They got him at gun point," said Schriffen. "He did not resist arrest."
In addition to Blair, two others were questioned who police initially thought were suspects. But police said they were released after it was determined that they were not involved, saying that the information given to police describing the other car's license plate number was wrong.
"It turned out not to be the plate number," said Schriffen. "They were absolutely not involved."
Though the other suspects got away, Schriffen said he is confident that more arrests will be made, though he added that it was too early to tell if they would be made any time soon or if the robberies will end now that one of the men has been caught.
"We are continuing the investigation and are receiving assistance from the NYPD," said Schriffen.
As police cars and members of the media milled outside the Merrick RadioShack after the robbery, several customers attempted to go inside the store after the police tape was lifted, but were turned away by police and management as the investigation continued.
"This is the RadioShack I always come to," said Antonio, of Roosevelt, who did not give his last name. But despite knowing that several suspects had been caught that day, he said, "I'm not shopping here any more."
A part-time RadioShack employee, 18-year-old Michael Puccio, said he was shocked to learn the store had been targeted once again. "They hit other RadioShacks more than once," he said, "so we were a little nervous."
Puccio, who was not at work during the robberies, also said he believes that the recent spate of robberies may be an inside job, possibly facilitated by a former or current employee tipping off the robbers about store procedures.
"[The robbers] know things that no one else could have known," he said, though he would not elaborate.
Puccio did express some relief that the police chase ended in an arrest. "I'm just glad they caught [him]," he said.
