Suffolk County police on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, announced the...

Suffolk County police on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, announced the arrests of four people in a string of bank and gas station holdups. Police said that, from left, Stacey Beck, 32, of Bay Shore, Robert DiGrazia, 24, of Deer Park, Shabril Maxwell, 24, of Copiague, and Douglas McKeefery, 30, of North Babylon, worked alone or together in robbing or attempting to rob four banks and four gas stations between Dec. 29, 2015, and Jan. 22. Credit: SCPD

The latest of four suspects to be arrested by Suffolk County police in a string of bank and gas stations holdups was arraigned Friday.

Robert DiGrazia, 24, of Deer Park was ordered held on bail of $30,000 cash or $60,000 bond on each of five counts by Judge Pierce Cohalan at First District Court in Central Islip.

DiGrazia’s attorney, Stephen Kunken of Commack, entered a general denial to all the charges in court. He said DiGrazia, who is unemployed and lives with his parents, has no prior criminal convictions.

Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Veronica McMahon did not reveal DiGrazia’s relationship with the his co-defendants or how say much money was stolen and whether it was recovered.

After the arraignment, Kunken said his client “has the support of his family, and I’m going to look into all of the circumstances.”

DiGrazia is due back in court Wednesday.

Suffolk police said Thursday that the series of bank and gas station robberies had remained unsolved until a witness to one of the holdups handed officers a lucky break last week.

Three of the suspects were arrested Jan. 22, and DiGrazia was taken into custody Thursday, police said.

The break came when a witness followed the getaway vehicle after someone inside had tried to rob a Commack Shell gas station last week, police said. The witness then alerted Suffolk police, authorities said.

Officers stopped the vehicle and arrested Shabril Maxwell, 24, of Copiague; Stacey Beck, 32, of Bay Shore; and Douglas McKeefery, 30, of North Babylon. The three were arraigned after their arrests.

After an investigation, Suffolk police said they arrested DiGrazia.

Police said the suspects worked alone or together in robbing or attempting to rob four banks and four gas stations between Dec. 29 and Jan. 22. The investigation called on the detective resources of several precincts and the special investigation section at headquarters, police said.

Maxwell was charged in seven of the eight cases and he and DiGrazia were partners in four of them, police said. Beck and McKeefery were charged with attempted robbery of the Shell station, police said.

Police detailed the charges Thursday:

  • DiGrazia was charged with third-degree robbery — Dec. 29 holdup of Roslyn Savings Bank, 363 E. Jericho Tpke., Huntington Station.
  • Maxwell and DiGrazia were charged with third-degree robbery — Jan. 11, TD Bank, 2178 Deer Park Ave., Deer Park.
  • Maxwell and DiGrazia were charged with third-degree robbery — Jan. 12, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, Route 109, East Farmingdale.
  • Maxwell was charged with first-degree attempted robbery — Jan. 17, Valero gas station, 355 Bay Shore Rd., Deer Park.
  • Maxwell was charged with first-degree robbery — Jan. 17, Valero gas station, 490 Broadway in Amityville.
  • Maxwell and DiGrazia were charged with first-degree robbery — Jan. 18, Valero gas station, 1100 Sunrise Hwy., North Amityville.
  • Maxwell and DiGrazia were charged with second-degree robbery — Jan. 19, Roslyn Savings Bank, 363 E. Jericho Tpke., Huntington Station.
  • Maxwell, Beck, and McKeefery were charged with third-degree attempted robbery — Jan. 22, Shell gas station, 444 Commack Rd., Commack.
  • With Darran Simon
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