Cops: Hicksville man arrested, accused of being bicycling bandit
Jose Roberto Savala, 19, of Hicksville, was arrested Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016, and charged with robbery, assault and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with two street robberies and an assault, Nassau County police said Thursday. Credit: NCPD
A Hicksville man is the bicycling bandit who snatched handbags from two women walking on Jerusalem Avenue earlier this week, Nassau County police said Thursday.
Jose Roberto Savala, 19, of Jerusalem Avenue, faces robbery charges in the two-wheeled thefts on Monday and Tuesday, police said.
While riding his bicycle, Savala took the handbags of two women, both 63, who were walking on Jerusalem Avenue in Hicksville.
He was arrested 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Hicksville LIRR station and was charged with two counts of third-degree robbery.
In addition, he faces assault with the intent to cause serious injury with a weapon, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon with the intent to use it and first-degree robbery causing serious injury, all stemming from a Sept. 18 assault of a man on North Broadway in Hicksville. In that robbery, Savala took the victim’s backpack and wallet, police said.
At his arraignment Savala’s bail was set at $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond.
About 3:40 p.m. Tuesday, a woman was walking near West Cherry Street when she was approached from behind by a man on a bike who “forcibly grabbed her pocketbook from her shoulder,” police said in an earlier news release.
About 7 p.m. Monday, another woman was walking near West Marie Street when her purse was snatched from her wrist by a man riding a bicycle.
The suspect pedaled away south on Jerusalem Avenue each time; neither woman was injured.
