Attack at Jericho home rattles neighbors
A Jericho couple were accosted, then attacked by three armed robbers who had been hiding near the driveway of their home Monday evening, police said.
The stickup occurred on Birchwood Park Drive, west of Robbins Lane, at 6:35 p.m., Nassau County police said. They said the man, 55, and woman, 38, were punched and kicked, and the man was pistol-whipped before a house alarm scared the robbers off.
Nothing was taken.
Police said the man suffered "multiple contusions" to his face and body in the attack, while the woman was bruised on her head and body. Both were treated at a hospital and released.
Police said that, upon returning home from work and errands, the couple -- a businessman and his girlfriend -- opened the garage door and the three men came charging at them, forcing them into the garage and then into the house.
"Give us the money," the robbers said, according to police.
At that point, police said, the couple told them the burglar alarm sounded. The robbers ordered the couple to "shut the alarm off," but the couple refused, according to police.
The robbers then showed handguns, police said. They then attacked the couple but fled when they realized police would soon respond to the alarm.
"I believe the alarm scared them off," said Det. Lt. William G. Carey, commanding officer of the Woodbury-based Second Squad detectives handling the case.
Carey said there was a "strong possibility" that the couple had been targeted, in part because the robbers appeared to have been waiting for the couple to come home.
"That's not what you would normally do if you were randomly picking a house," he said. He declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.
Carey said the modus operandi does not appear to match any known patterns in the county.
The attack has rattled the neighborhood. "People are freaking out," said neighbor Eryl Farella, a hairdresser. "It's frightening. It's very frightening. I'm right on this street. They could be hiding in my backyard."
With John Valenti
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Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
