Homeless Man Arrested for String of Long Island Bank Robberies
Oceanside, NY - June 28th, 2014 - The Robbery Squad and Suffolk County Patterns Crime Unit report the arrest of a homeless man for a series of bank robberies that began on Friday, 06/06/14 at 1:20 P.M.
According to detectives, on Friday, 06/27/14 at approximately 3:46 P.M., Suffolk County Police notified Nassau County Police that a white male subject had attempted two bank robberies in Copiague and had completed a bank robbery in West Babylon. The subject was reported to have left the area as a passenger in a taxi which was reported to be in the area of Old Country Road near the Wantagh Pkwy.
Nassau County Third Precinct police officers located the taxi, which the subject had fled from, near the Stop N Shop located at 530 W. Old Country Rd. The officers located the subject on foot outside the store and placed him under arrest. The subject, identified as Charles Riehl, 43, had already been connected to bank robberies in Nassau County in addition to having an active warrant for his arrest that had been issued by NYS Parole. The locations of the bank robberies are as follows:
In Nassau County:
- Friday, 06/06/14 at 1:20 P.M. – Astoria Bank 3535 Long Beach Rd., Oceanside
- Monday, 06/23/14 at 9:29 A.M. – Roslyn Savings 3140 Long Beach Rd., Oceanside
- Thursday, 06/26/14 at 11:18 A.M. – Astoria Bank 1149 Wantagh Ave., Wantagh
In Suffolk County:
All on Friday, 06/27/14
- At 2:20 P.M. - Chase Bank 895 Merrick Rd., Copiague (Attempt)
- At 2:22 P.M. – Chase Bank 980 Merrick Rd., Copiague (Attempt)
- At 3:01 P.M. – Astoria Bank 861 Montauk Hwy., West Babylon (Proceeds from this robbery were recovered)
Riehl is being charged with three counts of Robbery 3rd Degree and Violation of Parole. He will be arraigned on Saturday, 06/28/14 in First District Court, Hempstead, on the Nassau County robberies only. Charges will be filed in Suffolk County at a later date.