Roosevelt man arrested in 2014 bank robberies, police say

A Roosevelt man arrested in 2014 in connection with the robbery of the same West Hempstead bank twice in two days while on parole for a previous conviction was subsequently linked by investigators to a string of bank robberies in Nassau County — and, court records show, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty.

Nassau County police have scheduled a news conference for Thursday to discuss “an extensive investigation” by Robbery Squad detectives that they said linked the suspect, Reginald G. Tucker, 40, of Rose Avenue, to the five additional bank robberies and two additional attempted bank robberies.

Court records show that Tucker, who has been in custody on a parole violation since his arrest on Sept. 10, 2014, in the robbery of the Capital One Bank on Hempstead Turnpike in West Hempstead twice in a two-day span, pleaded guilty to five counts of third-degree robbery and two counts of third-degree attempted robbery in Nassau County Court on March 14. He now faces screening for sentencing on April 18, records show.

New York State prisoner information and parole records show that Tucker was released on parole on Dec. 24, 2013, after being convicted of two prior robbery counts only to have his parole violated and revoked on Sept. 12, 2014 — two days after his arrest for the bank robberies at the Capital One Bank branch.

Records show he was indicted by a grand jury on Oct. 8, 2014, and ordered held on $1 million bond or cash bail, which was reduced to $200,000 bond or $100,000 cash bail after he pleaded not guilty in court on Oct. 13, 2014.

He has been remanded since and, after dozens of court appearances, pleaded guilty on March 14.

It was not immediately clear what evidence was uncovered during the investigation to link Tucker to the robberies.

The Capital One Bank branch was robbed, according to police, at 1:55 p.m. on Sept 9, 2014, then was robbed again at 9:48 a.m. on Sept. 10, 2014. Police said at that time that the same suspect committed both robberies. Tucker was arrested on a street in Queens at 6:22 p.m. on Sept. 10, 2014, after an investigation, 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.”