Two Men Rob Grocery Store With Shotgun, Police Searching for Suspects

A grocery store across the street from was robbed at gunpoint by two men with a shotgun on Sunday night, Riverhead Town Police said. The suspects were not apprehended and police are still looking for the alleged robbers, according to a police report of the incident.

Police said they received a call about two suspicious armed men near 726 East Main Street around 10:15 p.m. When police responded, the owner of the nearby Village Grocery at 733 East Main Street told police that he had been robbed by two men with a shotgun who fled east on foot, according to a police report of the incident. The store is located just one block from the . 

After searching the area with a K9 unit, police found "proceeds from the robbery" near the railroad tracks southeast of the store, as well as a loaded 12-gauge shotgun hidden under a shed at the apartment complex on 821 East Main Street, according to a police report.

However, the two suspects were not found and remain at large, police said. 

The owner of the store, Mohammad Gondal, said he was angry over the Riverhead Police Department's slow response time.

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 tripped and spilled some of the cash they stole from the store.

“They were out there laughing and joking around,” Gondal said, adding that between $800 and $900 was stolen from his store, which opened just two months ago.

The suspects have been described as two black men, between the ages of 18 and 20. The first suspect was described as about 5 feet 7 inches tall with a medium build; the second suspect is about six feet two inches tall and thin, police said. Both men were wearing hooded sweatshirts with bandanas to cover their face, police said.

Police have asked anyone with information about this alleged robbery to contact the Riverhead Police Detective Division at (631) 727-4500 ext. 289