Freeport home invasion was targeted, cops say
Police respond at the scene of a home invasion on Casino Street in Freeport on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. One person was shot in the leg and another man was assaulted by masked gunmen during the robbery at about 12:25 a.m., police said. Credit: Jim Staubitser
One man was shot and another assaulted by masked gunmen during an early morning, targeted, home-invasion-style robbery Tuesday in Freeport, Nassau County police said.
“I’d like to stress to area residents that this incident is not believed to be random in any way,” said Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun, a police spokesman. “It appears that this home was targeted.”
LeBrun added that the Casino Street home where the robbery took place “is a known home that we frequent with regard to 911 calls,” which he said are related to “disturbances and sale of controlled substances.”
He would not elaborate, but said police had responded to numerous calls at the home and that at least one of the victims, the one who was shot in the leg, has a criminal record.
Police said two suspects, armed and wearing masks, accosted a 21-year-old man as he entered the rear of the home at 12:25 a.m., pushing him into the house. Once inside, police said, the suspects “demanded cash” from the male victim and from a 49-year-old woman, who they said was on a couch. One of the suspects then struck the man in the head, causing a laceration, police said.
During the confrontation, police said two more occupants of the home — a man, 25, and a woman, 20 — came downstairs and were confronted by the suspects. One of the suspects took the woman back upstairs to search for money, police said, but on their return downstairs, the 25-year-old man attempted to flee out the front door and was shot in the right calf. A passer-by drove that victim to the hospital, police said.
Police said the suspects fled without any proceeds.
A Nassau police ambulance took the 21-year-old man to a hospital to be treated for a laceration.
LeBrun said he could not say whether the victims are related.
Freeport Village Attorney Howard Colton said in a statement that a search warrant was issued for the home Tuesday.
The Freeport Building Department and Freeport police “entered the premises . . . [where] several code violations and hazardous safety conditions were noted and reported. The Freeport Fire Department Chief has deemed the property uninhabitable and ordered for an immediate board up.”
Police ask anyone with information about the robbery to call Crime Stoppers at 800-244-8477.
All calls will remain 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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