Fender-bender on Sagtikos leads to armed robbery, police say

A three-car fender bender on the Sagtikos State Parkway last month quickly turned into an armed robbery, State Police officials said Wednesday as they announced the arrest of two suspects.

Authorities said three vehicles were involved in a minor collision on Oct. 7 at 11:30 p.m. on the southbound Sagtikos near Exit 3.

The operators of two of the vehicles immediately got out of their vehicles to exchange information and to call 911 to report the collision, according to a State Police investigation.

Meanwhile, the driver of the third vehicle, Brittany Larrea, 22, of Medford, and a juvenile passenger also got out of their car, with the passenger pulling a gun on the occupants of one of the other vehicles involved in the accident, police said.

The juvenile, who was not identified, demanded money and fired a round into the ground, authorities said. 

The two suspects stole numerous wallets containing cash and credit cards from the two other vehicles, as well as a pair of Air Jordan sneakers, and fled, police said.

Larrea and the juvenile were arrested and arraigned Wednesday following an investigation by the State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Community Stabilization Unit.

Larrea was charged with three counts of first-degree robbery and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. She was arraigned in Suffolk County First District Court and held on $25,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.

The juvenile passenger was charged with three counts of first-degree robbery, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, fourth- and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, second-degree menacing and second-degree reckless endangerment.

He was held on $20,000 cash bail or $40,000 bond.