Man busted in bank heist spree
A Wantagh man has been nabbed for robbing eight Long Island banks to support a "serious" heroin addiction, police said Wednesday.
Jonathan Levin, 28, was arrested around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday after cops tracked his getaway car to the parking lot of the Bethpage Motel on Hempstead Turnpike, according to Nassau County Police Detective Sgt. John Giambrone.
His arrest came less than an hour after Levin allegedly robbed the second of two banks.
His arrest came less than an hour after Levin allegedly robbed the second of two banks Tuesday morning within 20 minutes. The branches are 3 miles apart.
Police said Levin, using a threatening demand note, first hit a Commerce Bank branch on Stewart Ave. in Bethpage at 9 a.m., followed by a Bank of America branch on N. Broadway in North Massapequa at 9:20 a.m.
The two heists capped a spree that allegedly began Dec. 22, when he is accused of robbing another Commerce Bank in Wantagh.
Suffolk County police also were looking for Levin after getting a tip that he was linked to bank robberies in Hauppauge, Nesconset and Central Islip last month and this month.
Suffolk County Detective Robert Doyle said an eyewitness provided a description of a car, a maroon Nissan, seen being driven from one of the scenes.
Police later tied the tip to a 2001 Maxima owned by Levin.
Nassau County Police Officers Clifford Pendl and Michael Mullen spotted the vehicle parked outside a Bethpage motor inn and waited for Levin to emerge from his room, then arrested him without incident.
Giambrone said Levin "appeared to have a serious heroin addiction" and that his crime spree "was fueling his addiction."
Posted Thursday, January 24, 2008
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