Man arrested in attack on woman in XSport fitness center at Westfield Sunrise
A Central Islip man was arrested early Friday, charged with attacking and attempting to rob a woman in a tanning booth at a fitness center in Massapequa, police said.
William B. Neal, 30, of 15 Springfield Circle, Central Islip, was arrested at another gym -- Planet Fitness on South Broadway in Hicksville -- at about 12:45 a.m. Friday and was charged with assault, burglary, petit larceny and criminal trespass, Nassau County police said. Police said he faces arraignment Friday in First District Court in Hempstead.
The incident involving Neal occurred at XSport Fitness at Westfield Sunrise on June 18 at about 10:45 a.m., police said. Neal already had been banned by management from the premises, but said he entered using "a false name" -- then hid in one of the tanning booth rooms, police said.
There, he attacked a customer, identified only as a 52-year-old woman, and tried to rob her, pushing her down during a confrontation and causing "a large contusion" to her arm.
Police said Neal fled. He was located at the fitness center in Hicksville on Friday.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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