Cops: 'Deception larcenies' pattern targets Suffolk Costco shoppers

Police searched late Thursday for a tandem of suspects in robberies targeting women in at least nine Costco parking lots in Suffolk, including one Wednesday. In that case, Suffolk police said a man approached a woman for directions outside a Commack Costco and when the victim returned to "her vehicle, she realized her wallet was missing from the passenger seat." 

Afterward, police said, the women went back into the Costco on Garet Place to see if someone had found her wallet and saw the man, now accompanied by "another male at the entrance of the store." They saw her and fled, but an investigation determined it was the latest in a pattern of similar robberies since mid-July in the parking lots of the Costcos as well as the Bed Bath & Beyond in East Northport, police said in a news release.

Police said the robberies also occurred at Costco stores in Holbrook, Melville and Nesconset.

Representative for Costco and Bed Bath & Beyond could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday night.

The "deception larcenies,"  police said, targeted women and unfolded much like Wednesday's in Commack, except in the other robberies, while one suspect asked directions, the other stole credit cards.

The first robbery took place at 2:30 p.m. on July 14 in the Costco parking lot at 625 Broadhollow Rd. in Melville, police said in a news release.

The suspects are described, in some cases, as one male and two females, one possibly pregnant, according to police. The other female is described, police said, as tall and thin. The male is described as between 5-7 and 5-8. Police did not provide a description for the fourth suspect.

The robberies took place at the following locations:

• Costco, 625 Broadhollow Rd., Melville, on July 14 at 2:30 p.m.
• Costco, 10 Garet Pl., Commack, on July 14 at 4:25 p.m.
• Costco, 10 Garet Pl., Commack, on July 16 at 2:30 p.m.
• Costco, 625 Broadhollow Rd., Melville, July 16 at 2:15 p.m.
• Costco, 625 Broadhollow Rd., Melville, July 21 at 12:45 p.m.
• Costco, 10 Garet Pl., Commack, on July 21 at 2:38 p.m.
• Bed Bath & Beyond, 3083 Jericho Turnpike, East Northport, on July 21 at 1:30 p.m.
• Costco, 3000 Route 25, Nesconset, on July 30 at 2:33 p.m.
• Costco, 125 Beacon Dr., Holbrook, on July 30 at 4 p.m.
• Costco, 10 Garet Pl., Commack, on Aug. 10 at 3:25 p.m.

Police ask anyone with information about the incidents to call Suffolk County Crime Stoppers at 800-220-8477.