Police: Man attacked, robbed a mother with toddler in Michaels parking lot

Police are searching for a robber who allegedly struck a woman from behind in a Commack store parking lot in February and ordered her into the back seat of her car at gunpoint — all in front of her 2-year-old daughter.

The crime occurred outside the Michaels arts and crafts store on Veterans Memorial Highway on Feb. 15 about 2:30 p.m., Suffolk County police said.

“While she was returning to her vehicle after shopping, and she was putting her 2-year-old daughter into the rear seat of the vehicle, she was approached from behind and struck in the back of the head,” Det. Lt. Michael Crowley, who is in charge of the department's 4th Squad detectives, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Crowley added: “The suspect pressed the handgun into the victim's back and ordered the victim to get into the back seat of the vehicle. The suspect then got into the front seat. He demanded the keys."

The victim, age 36, said the keys were in the front, but she had retained the keys, Crowley said. The assailant fled when the victim pressed the panic button on her key fob — but not before stealing her cellphone after it rang, Crowley said.

"The suspect was apparently scared off by the alarm," Crowley said. He said neither mother nor child was injured. She drove to a bank and the authorities were summoned, he said. 

Police have released a surveillance photo of the suspect, believed to be around 6 feet tall and about 50 years old. The suspect wore what police described as a green sweater and a mask that covered the bottom of his face. The surveillance photo shows the silhouette of the man in the lot.

"He actually hides behind three different vehicles before he flees the scene on foot," Crowley said.

With Matthew Chayes and Kendall C. Rodriguez

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.”