Haitian singer Shoubou, wife robbed at knifepoint in Elmont home, police say
The Haitian singer Shoubou, center, and his wife were robbed at knifepoint at their Elmont home early Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, Nassau police said. Shoubou, whose real name is Roger Eugene, is pictured performing with his band Tabou Combo on April 12, 2008, at the Sounds of Brazil nightclub in Manhattan. Credit: AP / Joel Jean-Pierre
Three men, one armed with a knife, broke into a home in Elmont early Thursday, confronting a couple in their bedroom and ransacking their home before fleeing with cash, Nassau County police said.
The victims were famous Haitian singer Roger Eugene, known to fans as Shoubou, and his wife, and police said the suspects entered their Frick Street home about 1:40 a.m.
Police said the suspects removed bars and a screen from a basement window and moved to the bedroom, where they confronted the couple, a 69-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman.
Two of the suspects then held the couple, while the third suspect ransacked the room, police said. The trio then demanded — and received — cash, police said.
“I’m all right,” Eugene said Thursday night. “I didn’t sleep the whole day.”
Police said there were no injuries and did not disclose how much was taken.
Eugene has been the lead singer of Tabou Combo, a 12-member band that started in Haiti and relocated to New York City in 1971, according to its website. The band has toured internationally with its “compas” hits, a popular beat and dance music born in Haiti and sung in Haitian Creole.
Investigators are asking anyone with information to call Nassau Crime Stoppers at 800-244-8477. All calls will be kept confidential.
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.”
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