Nassau cops find unregistered handguns

A Nassau police officer who was on the lookout for robbery suspects early Wednesday morning happened upon two men behaving suspiciously in Westbury -- and a subsequent search of one man's car turned up four unregistered handguns, the police said.

The officer's initiative led to a police search of a black Jaguar that had been left running, with the driver's door open, in an Old Country Road parking lot.

Inside the Jaguar the police found four handguns, a gun barrel and ammunition in a leather briefcase. The guns were a long-barreled .44 Magnum, a Ruger, a 9mm Beretta and a .38 revolver, said Detective Lt. Raymond Coté, commanding officer of the Third Squad detectives.

The leather case also held ammunition for the four guns, the police said.

A subsequent investigation led to the arrest of the 2006 Jaguar's owner, Mark F. Langdon, 48, of 35 Willis Ave., Syosset, the police said. Langdon was charged with five counts of criminal weapons possession.

The officer's trail to the cache of guns started at 3:05 a.m. when he saw Langdon and another man behaving suspiciously in the 1121 Old Country Road lot. The other man was wearing clothing similar to that worn by a suspect in previous robberies in Bellmore and Levittown, the police said.

When the two men noticed the officer they quickly separated and Langdon began walking away, headed east on Old Country Road, while the other man was detained by the police officer.

The Eighth Precinct officer then called in for help, and two more officers arrived to detain Langdon and bring him back to the parking lot, the police said. Langdon and the other man gave conflicting stories about what they were doing when they were spotted by the police.

Langdon then gave permission to the police to search his car, the police said. He faces arraignment Thursday in First District Court, Hempstead.

The second suspect, whose name was not provided by the police, was taken to the Eighth Precinct for further investigation; as of Thursday morning no criminal charges had been filed against him.

By BY JOSEPH MALLIA
Posted Thursday, March 13, 2008

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