Another arrest in East Meadow home invasion, police say

A Hempstead man is the latest to be charged in connection with a home invasion earlier this month in East Meadow, his arrest on Thursday coming one day after Nassau County police arrested a homeless man for his alleged role in the crime. Police are still searching for other suspects.

The arrest of Napoleon Abreu, 26, of Harvard Street, follows the arrest Wednesday of a homeless man, Mauricio Figueroa, 27. Police said they are searching for three others for their roles in the Feb. 21 push-in robbery on Rose Drive.

Both Figueroa and Abreu have been charged with two counts of second-degree robbery. Abreu also is being held on an unrelated outstanding warrant, police said Friday.

Police initially believed there were three suspects involved. They now say there were five.

Police said that the victim, identified only as a 53-year-old man, was entering his home at 4:22 a.m. when three of the suspects forced their way in behind him and “began kicking and punching him in the head, causing contusions.”

The trio stole cash from the victim, then fled the scene in a white 2007 Jeep.

The victim attempted to follow the suspects, chasing them to Charles Lindbergh Boulevard and West Road in Garden City, where the tires on the Jeep went flat — and the victim saw the suspects fleeing on foot in separate directions.

The victim called police then to report the incident and drove himself to a hospital for treatment of his injuries.

Abreu now faces arraignment Friday in First District Court in Hempstead. Figueroa was arraigned Thursday and was ordered held on $75,000 bond or $50,000 cash bail, which records show was not posted. A temporary order of protection was also issued. He is due back in court on Monday.

Police also are asking anyone else with information about the robbery to call Crime Stoppers at 800-244-8477. All calls will remain confidential.

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.”