Police: Man arrested in spree of store robberies in Suffolk

An attempted armed robbery Monday morning at a video game center in Shirley led to the arrest of a Mastic man in a weeklong spree of robberies, Suffolk County Police said Tuesday.

Melvin Herring, 59, was arrested in front of his home on Winters Drive at about 1:30 p.m., police said.

He was charged with first-degree attempted robbery, as well as three counts of first-degree robbery.

Police said Herring entered the BattleGrounds Game Center on William Floyd Parkway at about 10:15 a.m. Monday, displayed a handgun — and attempted to rob a store employee. Instead, police said, Herring fled the scene empty-handed.

But, after his arrest, police said detectives linked Herring to “multiple robberies” in the Fifth Precinct and Seventh Precinct patrol areas, among them a robbery at Royal Beauty Supply in Sayville on Sept. 20; Game Stop in Shirley on Saturday; and 50 Percent Off Cards & Gifts in East Patchogue on Monday.

Herring faces arraignment at a later date, police said.

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.”