Man robbed ice cream shop, tanning salon, Suffolk police say

Police said he robbed a tanning salon and an ice cream store.

Now, Michael Riggs, 32, of West Babylon, is under arrest, charged with two counts of third-degree robbery and two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Suffolk County police said.

Riggs was scheduled for arraignment Wednesday in First District Court in Central Islip, police said.

Riggs was arrested just before 6 p.m. Tuesday at Brookside Avenue and the Sunrise Highway North Service Road in North Babylon after an investigation by First Squad detectives, according to police.

Police said that on Jan. 21, Riggs entered Kilwins, an ice cream parlor and confectionary store on Deer Park Avenue in Babylon, demanding cash from store employees. Police did not disclose how much was taken, but said after the robbery Riggs fled the scene on foot.

On Feb. 15, police said, Riggs robbed the European Image Tanning and Sunless Center on Park Avenue in Babylon. Again, police did not disclose how much was taken.

There were no reported injuries in either robbery.

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.”