New York

Knife-wielding Robber Targets More Than a Dozen Long Island Stores

Nassau County police are searching for a man who has robbed or tried to rob more than a dozen stores on Long Island at knifepoint.

Before his latest robbery at a TCBY in Lynbrook on Saturday night, the robber met his match just hours earlier at a sandwich shop six miles away in North Merrick.

Manager Yashavant Patel was working at that Subway on Jerusalem Avenue when the robber entered the shop just after 7 p.m.

Exclusive video obtained by News 4 New York shows Patel confronting the robber, knife in hand, as he lets himself behind the counter.

“I’m nervous that time, but I gotta protect me,” Patel said.

Patel grabbed a toaster oven tray and waved it in the air, video shows.

“I have the toaster platter and I hit them,” Patel said.

As the robber stepped back, Patel hit the panic button and the robber took off. Two hours later he robbed that TCBY in Lynbrook, according to police. 

The robber has been linked to at least 14 robberies or attempted robberies on Long Island, police said, stretching from Westbury to Seaford to Lake Ronkonkoma. The first was in Copiague on Feb. 13. 

Patel was clutching the toaster oven tray on Monday, knowing it may have saved not only his profits, but his life. He said he hopes authorities catch the robber soon so area businesses can breathe a sigh of relief.

“He do so much things, they have to arrest,” Patel said.

Nassau County police said an investigation into the robberies is ongoing.

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