2 accused of robbing man's car keys after Farmingdale car crash, police say

UPDATE: A federal wrongful arrest lawsuit filed by a Florida man against Nassau County has been settled, court records show.

Jamie Ballerini, 39, of Palm City, Florida, was arrested in July 2014 for allegedly robbing a motorist of his car keys in Farmingdale, Nassau County police said. The charges were dismissed in March 2015, county court records show.

In August 2015, Ballerini sued the county as well as the district attorney’s office and the police for wrongful arrest. Court documents show a tentative settlement in the case was reached in January, but do not state the terms; the judge discontinued the lawsuit in March. Ballerini said he could not discuss the tentative settlement on the advice of his lawyers. County spokesman Michael Martino declined to comment other than to say there was a tentative settlement.

The story below was originally published on July 4, 2014.

Two out-of-state men have been arrested and charged with robbing a motorist of his car keys in Farmingdale, Nassau County police said.

Jamie Ballerini, 35, of Palm City, Florida, and Robert David Nichols, 27, of Glendale, Arizona, were charged with robbery in the second degree and were expected to be arraigned Saturday in First District Court in Hempstead, police said.

The two men were in a Volkswagen Jetta that was involved in an auto accident at 10:52 p.m. Thursday at Melville Road and Main Street, police said.

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The two men got out of their car and began to grab and beat the 52-year-old driver of the other car, who was still in his vehicle, police said.

They then grabbed the victim's car keys from the ignition, returned to the Jetta and drove north on Melville Road, a police spokeswoman said.

They were arrested without incident in front of 177 Conklin St., police said.