Man arrested in 2011 Manhasset jewelry store heist

A Brooklyn man was arrested Wednesday and accused of being one of five hold-up men in a bold 2011 jewelry store robbery at the posh Americana Manhasset mall, police said.

Christopher Evans, 28, was arrested in Brooklyn by U.S. marshals from the Regional Fugitive Task Force, and charged with first degree robbery and first degree criminal use of a firearm.

Four men were arrested on the same charges shortly after the Oct. 14, 2011 robbery of London Jewelers, 2046 Northern Blvd. Authorities said $800,000 worth of high-end watches were stolen, but were later found in a duffle bag in a garbage can on the day of the robbery and initial arrests.

Javon Gamble, 33, of Brooklyn, who was arrested in October 2011 was found guilty of first degree robbery in March in that case. Gamble had previously served 15 years on a 1995 murder conviction.

During Gamble's robbery trial, Wilson Cosme, a security guard at the jewelry store, said men had burst into the store with guns and a sledgehammer. They ordered everyone on to the floor, Cosme said, and then one of the gunmen said, "I dare you to move."

The four gunmen, wearing black bandannas over their faces, smashed a display case and took Rolex and Breitling watches before leaving, police said, and headed across a parking lot to a black Escalade and their getaway driver.

Nassau officers pursued that vehicle west on the LIE before the robbers abandoned it and tried to escape on foot, police said. Four of the five were later arrested in the vicinity of Lake Success Country Club after a search by various law enforcement units, police said. No one was reported injured.

The three men charged with Gamble on the day of the robbery, were still awaiting trial in March when a jury found him guilty. The status of their cases could not be determined Wednesday night.

Evans was to be arraigned Thursday in First District Court, Hempstead.