Seaford Rolex robbery: Man arrested in Facebook Marketplace sale gone wrong, cops say

A Bronx man has been arrested in connection with the robbery earlier this month in Seaford of an $8,500 Rolex watch being sold in a Starbucks parking lot via Facebook Marketplace, according to the Nassau County Police Department.

Sandy Sanchez, 26, of Story Avenue in the Bronx, is charged with two counts of second-degree robbery: stealing property in a crime aided by another person, and robbing someone and causing physical injury, according to a felony complaint.

No update was provided about a second robber described as participating in the crime, or a getaway driver. 

Robberies of high-end watches in global cities such as London, Los Angeles and Paris have skyrocketed — Rolex, Patek Philippe — according to a December 2022 article in the luxury-market publication Robb Report.

The Seaford robbery took place May 1 at about 9:40 p.m. in a parking lot just south of the Seaford stop on the Long Island Rail Road and east of the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway. When the seller showed the Rolex to his two potential buyers, the men grabbed the watch and pushed him to the ground, a previous news release from police said.

As the robbers attempted to flee in a black Mercedes-Benz — driven by the getaway driver, according to the complaint — the seller jumped onto the hood of the vehicle, police said. The driver kept going, and the seller was thrown from the hood, causing a cut to his head and an injury to his hip. He was treated at the scene for his injuries.

Sanchez's arrest was based on a statement from the seller and a photo array — in which a group of photographs of similar-looking people, including one of the person the police suspect did the crime, is shown to a victim or witness — as well as video surveillance, the complaint said.

The watch model wasn't disclosed.

At an arraignment Saturday in Nassau First District Court, Sanchez was ordered jailed on $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond bail, according to online court records. The bail hadn’t been posted as of the evening.

No attorney for Sanchez could be identified for comment. It wasn’t disclosed whether the watch was recovered. 

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.