Police Release Photos of Main Street Convenience Store Robbers

Riverhead Police and Suffolk County Crime Stoppers have released surveillance camera photos of two suspects involved in the Nov. 13 armed robbery of an East Main Street convenience store.

At about 10 p.m. on Nov. 13, two unknown men entered the , stealing over $1,100 worth of cash and merchandise, according to a police statement. Video footage shows one of the suspects wielding a pump shotgun.

Police said the suspects took $900 in cash from the register, two cartons of cigarettes valued at $160, and $100 worth of assorted cigars. The suspects then fled eastbound along the train tracks after tripping and spilling some of the cash they stole, the grocery store owner said. No one was hurt in the robbery.

Riverhead police discovered the discarded shotgun used in the armed robbery under a shed after a K-9 check of the area tracked the suspects to the River Pointe Apartments at 821 East Main Street in Riverhead. The suspects are still at large, police said.

The first suspect was described as a black man over 6 feet tall, medium build, wearing a white jacket with a blue hood, blue jeans and a backpack. The second suspect was described as a black man over six feet tall, large build, wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and white and black sneakers. Both suspects wore bandanas covering their faces and have not been identified.

The owner of the store, Mohammad Gondal, said in an interview Monday that police took seven minutes to arrive at his store, despite being just one block away, adding that the dispatcher repeatedly asked him for his address and directions as the alleged thieves fled the scene.

Town Supervisor Sean Walter later confirmed the response time and said he spoke to Police Chief David Hegermiller about the incident. Hegermiller said at the time that officers did not receive notification of the robbery from dispatchers until about 6 minutes after the 911 call was first made; officers were also delayed after responding to a car crash at about the same time on Sound Avenue.

In response to the rash of violent crime,

"It's not acceptable for these thugs to be doing this," Walter said. "We're going to do everything we can push these [criminals] out of town."

Chief Hegermiller said last week the police department will to work later shifts on patrol in the area, reducing the cost of a police step-up. He added that hiring more police officers was not on the table.

"We're flat broke. As a town we're flat broke," Hegermiller said in an interview on Nov. 30. "The supervisor said 'pay as we go,' so we're staffed at 85 [police officers]. We can handle it."

Anyone with information about the armed robbery is asked to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. Suffolk County Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest, according to a police statement.