Nassau rookie officers honored for arrest in robbery spree

Two rookie Nassau County police officers were honored by County Executive Edward Mangano at department headquarters Wednesday in Mineola for their work in arresting a suspect in four armed robberies in a seven-hour span last week in Bellmore and Merrick.

Officials said one of the cops, Seventh Precinct Officer Joseph Laundrie, was on his first tour with the department — having graduated from the police academy on May 31.

Police said Laundrie and First Precinct Officer Ronald Curaba — on the job for a year — arrested the armed suspect, Jerrod Rollerson, 27, of Hempstead, after a foot chase and “scuffle.”

Rollerson had stolen at least $2,650 from the businesses — three gas stations and a 7-Eleven — during the robberies on June 5 and 6, police said.

Rollerson, according to court records, had previously been arrested by Hempstead Village police in May, charged with criminal mischief and assault with intent to cause physical harm, and was out on bail when police say he committed the armed robberies.

Rollerson has been charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree criminal use of a firearm, according to records.

Police said Rollerson, wearing a mask and brandishing a 9-mm pistol, robbed a Valero station on Sunrise Highway in Bellmore at 9:57 p.m. June 5, stealing $1,900 in cash and Newport cigarettes. Rollerson robbed the station again at 4:34 a.m. on June 6, police said. He then struck a BP station on Merrick Road in Bellmore and a 7-Eleven store on Merrick Road in Merrick at 4:58 a.m.

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The two officers then arrested Rollerson on Harvard Avenue in Merrick.

Rollerson was armed when the pair took him into custody, police said.

Both Mangano and acting Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter presided over Wednesday’s ceremony.

During a brief news conference last week, Krumpter called the arrest “Great work by two new police officers.”

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.”