Police: Gunpoint holdups Wednesday night in West Hempstead, South Hempstead
Two gunpoint driveway holdups that occurred just 15 minutes and a handful of blocks apart Wednesday night in Nassau County are being investigated as part of a potential robbery pattern, police said.
A gunpoint robbery attempt was thwarted on Nightingale Road in West Hempstead at about 9:30 p.m., Nassau County police said.
Police said a gunpoint robbery occurred on Maple Avenue in South Hempstead at 9:45 p.m.
No one was injured in either incident, police said.
But police said investigators are examining links between the two incidents -- and are trying to determine if they are part of a larger pattern.
In both incidents, the suspects were identified as three men, all dressed in dark, hooded sweatshirts -- one of the suspects displaying a handgun.
In the second holdup, in South Hempstead, police said the suspects also wore bandannas covering their faces.
The suspects all are believed to be in their 20s.
Police said that in attempted robbery in West Hempstead, the suspects approached the victim as he exited his car in his driveway on Nightingale Road, demanding cash and property. But then another family member pulled into the driveway -- and police said the suspects fled. Nothing was taken.
In the robbery on Maple Avenue, police said, the suspects approached a 49-year-old man as he exited his car in his driveway, displayed the handgun and demanded the man's wallet and cellphone. He complied, and the suspects fled.
Police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 800-244-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential.
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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