David Wheeler stole wallet, cellphone from car in Roosevelt, cops say

Nassau police arrested a 28-year-old man Monday after he stole a wallet and cellphone from a car at a Roosevelt gas station, officials said Tuesday.

David Wheeler, of 76 E. Pennywood Ave. in Roosevelt, was charged with first-degree robbery.

The robbery occurred about 1:30 a.m. Saturday at the BP gas station on Nassau Road near W. Greenwich Avenue, police said.

A 43-year-old man was leaving the gas station store when he saw Wheeler “exiting his car with his wallet and cellphone,” police said.

A police spokesman said he could not say how Wheeler gained entry to the vehicle.

Wheeler ran away, but the victim, whose name was not released, followed him into the Quick Stop Deli at 528 Nassau Rd., police said.

Inside the deli, “an altercation ensued,” police said, and Wheeler punched the victim in the face.

Wheeler “simulated that he had a gun inside his sweatshirt pocket, threatened to shoot the victim” and then fled, police said.

Detectives from Nassau’s Major Case Bureau arrested Wheeler.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.