Nod to deputy in bank robbery arrests

Suffolk County Sheriff's Deputy Thomas Patterson found it odd Thursday when a man darted into a 7-Eleven in Central Islip, then rushed back out without buying anything.

"I had just gotten my cup of coffee," Patterson, 43, said, "when he ran into the store and two, three seconds later ran right back out."

Patterson said the suspicious behavior piqued his interest, especially when the man jumped into the backseat of a black Mazda that hurriedly drove off.

So as he followed the car out of the lot, he ran its license plate, promptly getting a hit. A car with the same description had been spotted at a bank robbery two days earlier.

Moments later, Patterson and backup deputies in an unmarked car pulled over the Mazda, apprehending three suspects in two recent Suffolk bank robberies, Suffolk County police said.

Christopher Baptist, 26, and twins Roger Londono and Mario Londono, 22, all of 229 Dovecote Lane in Central Islip, face robbery charges in a Tuesday heist of Wells Fargo Bank at 601 Portion Rd. in Lake Ronkonkoma, police said.

Baptist, who ran in and out of the convenience store, also faces charges in a robbery at the same bank location July 16, when it was a Wachovia branch, police said.

The three men were questioned at the Third Precinct in Bay Shore, where they were arrested, said Det. Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky of the Suffolk police. "That was good work by the deputy," Pelkofsky said.

Chief Mike Sharkey of the Sheriff's Department, agreed. "He picked up on something that did not look right and followed up on it," Sharkey said. "It's an impressive arrest."

Patterson, who is assigned to the enforcement bureau in Yaphank, said Baptist didn't do anything wrong in the store.

"It was just suspicious behavior for someone to run in and out of a convenience store that fast," he said.

Patterson said it was his most satisfying arrest. "Grabbing bank robbery suspects, that's a first for me," he said.

The Londono brothers were each charged with one count of second-degree robbery; Baptist was charged with one count of second-degree robbery and one count of third-degree robbery.