Police: Man in Wheelchair Leaving Church is Robbed, Beaten in Riverhead

Authorities are asking for the public's help to identify and locate four men who assaulted and robbed a man in a wheelchair last week in Riverhead. 

According to Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and the Riverhead Police Department, the man in a wheelchair left United Methodist Church, traveling north on Maple Avenue in Riverhead, from 2nd Street on June 1 at about 10:30 p.m. 

As the man approached the Long Island Rail Road tracks on Maple Avenue, he was attacked from behind by at least four people, police said. 

The attackers knocked the victim out of his wheelchair and struck him with weapons, possibly sticks or pipes, police said. They stole cash and prescription medications from the victim before fleeing on foot in an unknown direction, police said. 

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with any information is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS or contact the Riverhead Police Detective Division at 727-4500 Ext. 327.  All calls will be kept confidential.