Cops arrest NYC man in Carle Place break-in

A knit hat and cellphone left behind at the scene of a February burglary in Carle Place furnished detectives with enough clues to lead them to a Queens suspect, police said Thursday.

Asha Patterson, 37, of 144-17 Shore Ave., Jamaica, was arrested at his home and charged with using a sledgehammer to break into Sixth Avenue Electronics, 235 Old Country Rd. on Feb. 16, police said.

Detectives said Patterson and another man who is still being sought, smashed through a cinder block wall of the electronics goods store about 1 a.m. They damaged security video equipment and the store's burglar alarm system, police said. That set off an audible alarm, police said, and the two suspects fled without taking anything with them.

In their haste to leave, Patterson left behind the knit hat and a cellphone, police said. By checking calls made on the phone, and obtaining DNA from the hat, Nassau detectives said they were led to Patterson.

He was charged with third-degree burglary and third-degree criminal mischief.

Patterson was to be arraigned Friday in First District Court, Hempstead.