Cops: Shoplifter charged after confrontation
A shoplifter in Massapequa, confronted after hiding two Burlington Coat Factory leather jackets under his hoodie, successfully fled the store by jabbing the manager with a screwdriver, Nassau police said.
As police hunted for the man following the scuffle with the store manager, three schools in the Massapequa School District were locked down for about two hours.
The lockdowns were lifted after police arrested Michael Marte, an unemployed 22-year-old from Copiague, on a robbery charge, authorities said.
The jackets, worth $350 together, were taken off the rack by Marte after 10 a.m. Tuesday at the store, at 5500 Sunrise Hwy., said Det. Sgt. Anthony Repalone, a police spokesman.
"He tries to exit the store with the jackets," Repalone said.
That's when the anti-theft alarm, triggered by security tags on the jackets, went off.
"The store manager confronts him. There's a scuffle between the defendant and the store manager. The subject reached into his pocket, pulls out a screwdriver and proceeds to jab the victim in the neck and abdomen," Repalone said.
The 52-year-old manager, who was not identified, sustained only superficial cuts and bruises. He was treated at the hospital and released, police said.
Further charges and an arraignment hearing were pending against Marte, Repalone said.
The schools that were locked-down -- or "locked out," as district officials called it in an online e-mail to district parents -- were East Lake, Unqua and Berner.
The afternoon kindergarten sessions were canceled at East Lake and Unqua, the e-mail advised, while the morning kindergarten sessions were held in their respective buildings until the incident was resolved.
Officials apparently also instituted a lock-down at the Grace Day School, a private Episcopal elementary school in Massapequa, as a result of the incident at Burlington Coat Factory.
A message from the school informed parents that "all students and faculty are safe," but said the lockdown would remain in effect until police notification that the incident had been resolved.
Officials at the store could not be immediately reached for comment.
Posted Thursday, November 20, 2008
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