Long Beach trio arrested after setting up robbery through Facebook, cops say

Three Long Beach men, two of them 16, were arrested Monday and charged with armed robbery after police said they used the social networking site Facebook to set up and rob victims from Queens.

The three suspects -- Deon Phillips, 16, Shaun T. Teemer, 16, and Isaiah J. Dokes, 20 -- were arraigned in Long Beach City Court and ordered held on $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash bail by Judge Frank Dikranis, officials said.

The case was transferred to Nassau County Court with the next appearance date set for April 24, officials said.

Long Beach police said the victims, whose identities were not released, had responded to "a Facebook solicitation" of an offer to sell a dirt bike and met the three suspects on East Fulton Street just after 12:30 a.m.

The number of victims was not clear.

Police said that at the meeting, the trio robbed the victims after displaying a firearm -- stealing a cellphone and the dirt bike.

All three suspects were charged with second-degree robbery, police said. Police said the two teens, Phillips and Teemer, also were charged with false personation and criminal use of a firearm.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

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.”