Nassau police: Still no suspects or evidence in armed robbery pattern

Nassau police are deploying surveillance cameras, license plate readers and plainclothes officers near gas stations and convenience stores, but have no suspects or forensic evidence in a spate of armed robberies that included the Sunday evening gunpoint robbery of a Hicksville gas station, police officials said Monday.

Acting Nassau Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said Monday that the thief -- who police believe is responsible for 11 armed robberies, mostly in Hicksville, Jericho and Westbury since Dec. 20, and the killing of a Jericho gas station attendant -- "hasn't left any forensic evidence."

"We're still aggressively investigating," Krumpter said Monday. "He's very concerning because he's already exhibited that he can be extremely violent. . . . We've deployed a significant amount of technology since the pattern emerged."

Asked if police have identified any suspects in the pattern, Krumpter said: "It's a fluid investigation. As we eliminate persons of interest, other people rise. You go from a person of interest, to a subject. . . . We don't have a subject at this point in time."

In the latest armed robbery in the pattern -- the first in 26 days -- a man armed with a handgun entered the Applegreen gas station, 118 Newbridge Rd., and demanded cash from a male employee about 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

The robbery, which was captured on the store's surveillance cameras, showed the gunman wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, navy blue sweatpants with a white stripe on the legs, gloves and a black bandanna covering his face, police said. He fled on foot with an unspecified amount of cash.

In an attempted robbery of a BP gas station in Jericho on Jan. 28, also believed to be part of the pattern, the suspect shot to death a clerk, Hany Awad, 56, of Levittown, police said.

Frank Sadiqi, manager of the Applegreen, said Monday that the employee who was working at the time was unhurt and the station has reopened.

"The guy gave the robber the money," Sadiqi said. "Thank God he's safe. He wasn't hurt."

The culprit has been described as a 20- to 25-year-old man about 5 feet, 11 inches tall, who usually wears all black, including gloves and a face mask.

"The police, they've been in the area," Sadiqi said. "We were aware to take precautions. They told us in the past to be careful. We basically listened."

Asked if police did enough to protect the station in light of the pattern, Sadiqi said: "We have enough patrols. We have the best police in the state, no? I really do think that. They're very, very good police. We're very well protected."

Anyone with information about the latest robbery or others can call Crime Stoppers at 800-244-8477. All information will be kept confidential. Crime Stoppers has offered a $35,000 reward.

With Gary Dymski

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.