Cops: Hispanic burglars target Hispanic victims

Detectives are investigating whether a band of gun-toting home-invasion burglars described by victims as Hispanic are targeting other Hispanics who work in cash-heavy businesses, Nassau County police said Thursday.

Neighborhoods hit during the afternoon burglaries - four since mid-February, including the most recent Tuesday - are in Freeport, Rockville Centre and Merrick.

"They target these people, figuring they're going to have large amounts of cash at home," including deli and barber shop owners, said Det. Sgt. John Giambrone, commanding officer of the Nassau police robbery-investigation squad.

To force their way into homes, burglars have kicked in doors, rung a door bell and confronted an occupant exiting, Giambrone said.

Robbery detectives are investigating. Until recently, the individual precinct squads had investigated the cases.

"Home robberies are not our responsibility until they become a pattern," Giambrone said at a news conference at police headquarters in Mineola. "Once there's at least three that we can identify as similar, then robbery squad gets involved."

Giambrone said detectives believe Hispanic business owners carrying large amounts of cash are being targeted.

Detectives are also investigating a possible link to a similar spree in Brooklyn and Queens where several of the victims were Dominican, Giambrone said.

In the most recent home invasion, on Washburn Avenue in Freeport, the four burglars kicked in the door of the home and detained four children between the ages of 5 and 12 inside, Giambrone said.

One of the four burglars wore a police badge and brandished a silver handgun, police said.

"They threw sheets or clothing over the kids' heads and told them not to look up," Giambrone said.

Once downstairs, the burglars tied up the children's uncle with an electrical cord, stole valuables at gunpoint, ransacked the house and fled in a dark blue Lincoln Continental.

The three other burglaries were:

Feb. 17, Lincoln Boulevard in Merrick;

March 24, North Columbus Avenue in Freeport;

March 27, Merrick Road in Rockville Centre.

By MATTHEW CHAYES
Posted Saturday, April 18, 2009

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