Thieves in Nassau make off with vehicles, careening through barriers, police say

A pair of alleged car thieves turned Nassau communities into their own versions of "The Fast and the Furious" last weekend, swiping two vehicles, including a large flatbed dump truck, and speeding away, county police said.

The first burglary occurred Saturday at 11:30 p.m. when a yet unidentified thief broke the glass garage door at the Rockaway Nissan dealership on Burnside Avenue in Inwood, according to detectives from the Fourth Squad.

The suspect then entered a 2021 gray Nissan Rogue, using keys that were left in the vehicle by the dealership, Nassau police said.

After a few minutes, the suspect quickly accelerated in reverse, driving out of the dealership through the service bay doors before fleeing west on Burnside Avenue toward Sheridan Boulevard, officials said.

There were no injuries and the suspect, described as 6 feet tall with a thin build, wearing jeans and a blue sweatshirt, did not steal anything else, police said.

The next day, shortly before 9 p.m., an Island Park man broke into a fenced property on Nassau Road in Roosevelt, entered a 2001 International Harvester Landscape truck and started the engine, Nassau police said.

The suspect then drove the large bucket truck through a locked fence, heading south on Nassau Road, according to First Squad detectives.

A short time later, the truck crashed on Island Parkway North in Island Park and the driver fled on foot, officials said. Albert Garfield, 57, was apprehended a short time later and arrested without incident.

Garfield was arraigned Monday in Hempstead on charges of second-degree grand larceny, second and third-degree criminal mischief, second-degree criminal possession of stolen property and leaving the scene of an accident.

He has multiple previous arrests for seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, third-degree robbery, third-degree assault and driving while ability impaired by alcohol or drugs, police said.

No information was available online about arraignment or representation.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.