Crimes Nearby: Cops Say 2 Homeless Men Robbed Bank

Long Beach

Police arrested two homeless men they say acted together to  last week. David Traversa, 19, and George Armstrong, 20, were arrested on Saturday for a robbery at  at about 12 p.m. on June 8. 

The Long Beach Police Department detective division and Nassau County Police Department robbery squad investigated the incident and arrested and charged Traversa with second-degree robbery after he was taken into custody in Baldwin at about 2:50 p.m. Saturday.

Based on a further investigation, police arrested and charged George Armstrong with second-degree robbery at the Capri Hotel, at 5 Freer St. in Lynbrook, at about 7:30 p.m. on May 9.

According to the LBPD, Armstrong walked into the bank and approached a teller at a window, demanded that the teller put money on the counter, left with an undetermined amount of cash and fled on foot eastbound on East Fulton Street.

“Armstrong entered the bank and made a verbal demand for the cash, and Traversa stayed outside and served as a lookout,” Sgt. Eric Cregeen, the department’s public information officer, told Patch. 

Both suspects took a taxi to and from the bank, but the driver was not a party to the crime. “He was just waiting for one of the guys as the other guy was looking out and had the cab waiting,” he said about the driver. 

Traversa and Armstrong were arraigned in  on Monday and will be held on $30,000 bail. The LBPD declined to reveal the amount of money that was robbed from the bank.

East Meadow 

An East Meadow man was arrested Saturday afternoon after allegedly using a real estate scheme to defraud several people out of more than $15,000.

According to Nassau County detectives, Jamel Smith, 38, of East Meadow, acted as a real estate agent between Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 and Wednesday, May 9, 2012. In that time he secured down payments for rental properties in Elmont, Hempstead and West Hempstead.

An investigation by detectives from the Nassau County Police Department's Third and Fifth Squad, along with Hempstead Police, discovered that Smith would place an ad on Craigslist to arrange a meeting with the victims at which time he would secure a payment, police said.

This occurred at least eight different times for a loss of more than $15,000 to the victims, police said.

New Hyde Park

The  on Jericho Turnpike in New Hyde Park was robbed Monday afternoon. According to police, a Caucasian man about 40 years old, 6’ tall, wearing a green camouflaged t-shirt and a dark baseball cap with a Mercedes Benz logo, entered the bank at about 1:08 p.m. and presented a demand note to a teller.

Garden City Park

Nassau County Police have apprehended a man reportedly responsible for several burglaries in Garden City Park which occurred on June 7. Steven Wohnsigl, 49, of Hicksville, allegedly broke into homes on Birchwood Drive and Morris Drive in Garden City Park as well as Betty Road in Garden City.