Armed robbery on LIRR: Police say suspects robbed man on train near Wyandanch
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Metropolitan Transportation Authority police are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate three people who investigators say robbed a man on a train in Wyandanch in January. Credit: SCPD
Police are seeking information on three suspects who investigators said robbed a man on an early morning LIRR train as it approached Wyandanch station in January.
Suffolk County police released surveillance footage from the incident, which took place at about 4:05 a.m. on Jan. 29.
Police said one of the suspects "displayed a gun" and robbed the man while the other two suspects "assisted and acted as a lookout." They did not detail what was taken during the robbery.
The trio exited the train at Wyandanch and police said they were last seen at the intersection of Straight Path and Jamaica Avenue.
In September Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Commissioner John Mueller announced the formation of a "train patrol unit," with about 60 officers dedicated "exclusively" to LIRR and Metro-North trains and said that unit was to begin working trains in January.
The announcement, made at a meeting of the MTA Board, was in part a response to an uptick last year in major crimes on the LIRR, which were up by 73% through last August — from 45 during the first eight months of 2021 to 78 for the same period in 2022.
The MTA defines "major crimes" as murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto.
More recent crime statistics were not available Monday.
Meanwhile, police are asking anyone with information regarding the Wyandanch incident to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS. Tipsters can also use a mobile app downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips — or, online at P3Tips.com.
— With Alfonso Castillo
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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