LONG ISLAND BRIEFS

MASTIC/Suspect arrested minutes after bank robbery

Suffolk police arrested a man yesterday just 13 minutes after he allegedly robbed a bank in Mastic.

Police said Mastic resident Stephen Dowdy robbed a Capital One Bank branch at about 10:13 a.m. - and they nabbed him at his house not long after.

Dowdy had entered the bank at 1235 Montauk Highway and approached a teller with a threatening note that demanded cash, Suffolk police said. The teller complied, giving Dowdy cash from the drawer. He then fled and was seen heading south.

A description of Dowdy, 30, of George Drive, was broadcast over police radio. Seventh Precinct Officer Michael Stella heard the description and noted it matched an individual he given a summons to earlier for an unrelated town violation.

Stella requested an adjoining sector unit to search for Dowdy. While on George Drive, Dowdy saw the police cars and ran to the rear of his home, police said. Stella and Officer George Schmidt chased and caught Dowdy at 10:26 a.m.

Dowdy was charged with one count of third-degree robbery. Dowdy was to be held overnight at the Seventh Precinct and be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip today.

- BART JONES

HUNTINGTON STATION/Police seek trio in stabbings of 3

Two men and a woman were stabbed and injured early yesterday morning in Huntington Station, Suffolk County police said.

Three men stabbed the victims about 2:32 a.m. at Lockwood Avenue and Tippin Drive, police said.

The victims were taken to Huntington Hospital for treatment of injuries that police said were not life-threatening. Police did not release their names.

No arrests had been made and the investigation was ongoing, police said.

- KEITH HERBERT

LEVITTOWN/Arrest in knifepoint robbery at handball court

A Levittown man was arrested on charges he robbed another man of his wallet while holding a pocket knife in the victim's face, Nassau County police said yesterday.

Shaquan Hinson, 22, was arrested shortly after the robbery at 7 p.m. Friday on a handball court, police said. The alleged theft of the 20-year-old victim's wallet occurred at Wantagh Avenue and the intersection of Sprucewood Drive in Levittown.

Police said Hinson fled on a bike. No injuries were reported.

Hinson was charged with robbery and possession of a weapon. He was being held for arraignment in First District Court in Hempstead.

- KEITH HERBERT

ELMONT/Student charged with marijuana sale to youth, 15

A 20-year-old Brooklyn man has been arrested for selling a small amount of marijuana to a 15-year-old student in Elmont, police said yesterday.

Nassau County police said Thomas A. Smith, of East 96th Street, a student at St. Martin DePorres School for Career Development, sold the marijuana to another student about 8:30 a.m. Friday.

Smith was charged with criminal sale of marijuana and was being held awaiting arraignment.

- KEITH HERBERT

JAMAICA/Fire disrupts local service on LIRR

A brush fire interrupted local service on the LIRR's Jamaica-Penn Station route, railroad officials said yesterday.

The fire broke out about 1:10 p.m. west of Jamaica Station and started affecting service about 1:45 p.m., said Long Island Rail Road spokesman Michael Lewi. He said westbound express trains were still running to Penn Station, but local trains were suspended while firefighters try to control the blaze.

Lewi said there was no immediate indication what started the fire.

- BART JONES