Cops: 3 arrested in W. Hempstead burglary

Three Queens men were arrested and charged with burglary after police said they broke into -- and ransacked -- a home in West Hempstead on Tuesday afternoon.

A woman who lived in the house was home at the time and hid in an upstairs closet, from where she called a family member -- who then called police.

Nassau County police said two of the men were arrested in the shed of a nearby yard after a canine search, while the getaway driver was later stopped on Hempstead Gardens Drive, where he was arrested by a Fifth Precinct patrol officer alerted by a broadcast description of the car.

Shakey Foster-Bey, 24, of 168-37 11th Rd., Johan M. Antney, 21, of 107-54 166th St. and Carl S. Brown, 23, of 111-33 173rd St., all in Queens, were charged with second-degree burglary. Bail for each man was set at $200,000 bond or $100,000 cash at Wednesday's arraignment in First District Court in Hempstead. They were due back in court Friday.

The burglary took place at the home on Eagle Avenue at 1:20 p.m. Police said the woman, 36, was home at the time and heard banging at her front door, as well as her doorbell ringing. She looked out, police said, saw a man she did not recognize -- and didn't answer. Police said she watched the man get into the backseat of a light-colored Volkswagen.

The car drove off. But a few minutes later police said it returned and parked at the corner of Eagle and Thrush avenues, where a second man got out and went to the back door of the woman's home.

She heard loud banging on that door, police said, and ran upstairs and hid in the closet.

She then heard the men ransacking her house, police said.

Responding officers heard "a loud noise in the rear yard" and said two of the men, Foster-Bey and Antney, jumped a fence in an attempt to flee.

The two were later discovered hiding in a shed on Maple Street by a canine team.

Brown was stopped later, driving the Volkswagen.

Police said no one was injured in the burglary.

Jewelry taken from the home was recovered, police said.