Police: 2 women arrested in East Meadow dollar store robbery

Two women were arrested after robbing an East Meadow dollar store Sunday and then pulling a knife on an employee when he followed them into the parking lot and took back several of the stolen items, police said.

Brianna Livingston, 21, and Shaina Thompson, 19, were both arrested at their home on Queen Street in Westbury, hours after the robbery, Nassau County police said. They were both charged with first-degree robbery and second-degree robbery.

Thompson additionally was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, based on an open warrant from 2016, police said. Both women face arraignment Monday in First District Court, Hempstead.

Police said the women entered the Dollar Deal store on Hempstead Turnpike at 3:35 p.m. Sunday, then “removed assorted items off the shelf” — and left the store without paying. Police said a male employee followed the women to their car, removing some of the stolen items before an “irate” Thompson exited the vehicle and threatened the employee with a knife, forcing him to flee back into the store.

Police said the employee was able to give them registration information on the vehicle, which led them to arrest Thompson and Livingston.

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.”