Suspect arrested in Massapequa convenience store heist, police say

A Massapequa man was arrested shortly after he robbed a convenience store at gunpoint Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Police said the suspect, identified as Daniel Brown, 25, entered the County Line Farms store at 5840 Merrick Rd. in Massapequa about 12:45 p.m., pointed a black handgun at the female cashier and demanded cash from the register. The suspect fled west on Merrick Road with the money, police said.

A description of the suspect was broadcast, and two officers from the Bureau of Special Operations canvassed the area. That led them to the Budget Inn at 400 Carmen Mill Rd., where police said officers found Brown in one of the rooms.

The proceeds from the robbery as well as a Phantom CO2 cartridge BB gun were recovered, police said, and Brown was found to have three packages of heroin on him.

The same convenience store was robbed July 4, Nassau police said, though no gun was used. Christian Ramirez, 21, of Massapequa, was located in Wyandanch and charged with third-degree robbery in that case six days later.

Brown, of 2068 Lake St., is charged with second-degree robbery and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at First District Court in Hempstead.