Cops: Suspect's lost shirt leads to arrest

A North Valley Stream man who lost the shirt off his back while fleeing a Westbury jewelry store theft in May was arrested Wednesday night after DNA testing of the shirt identified him as the culprit, Nassau County police said.

Jerry Torres, 47, of 1070 Frances Dr., posed as a customer on May 27 at From Italy With Love, 473 Old Country Rd., took two rings and fled on foot, Det. Lt. Ray Cote, head of the Third Squad detectives, said.

"He took his time in the store, evaluating the rings, acting like a worried fiance -- or at least a potential fiance," Cote said. "When the store worker was distracted, he grabbed the rings and ran out the door.

"The employee chased him and he takes off his hat and his shirt in the pursuit. He gets in a car, and we get a description of the car, but it wasn't enough for us until we got the DNA back," Cote said, explaining that Torres was already in the DNA database based on samples taken during previous arrests.

When police went to arrest him outside his girlfriend's home at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Torres tried to run away, then became involved in a scuffle with one of the officers, police said.

The officer injured his leg and was treated at a nearby hospital and released.

Cote said Torres had nine prior convictions for robbery, grand larceny and other crimes and had served two terms in state prison.

Torres was charged with grand larceny, assault and resisting arrest. Bail was set $30,000 bond or $20,000 cash at his arraignment Thursday in First District Court in Hempstead.

With Gary Dymski