NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Two men were arrested on Wednesday in connection to a December home invasion robbery on Staten Island where they pistol-whipped a 5-year-old girl and her mother before stealing a single cellphone, police said.
Michael Conley, 28, and Elliot Knight, 28, were both charged with burglary after allegedly breaking into the home at Queen Street and Livingston Avenue in Manor Heights around 12:45 a.m. on Dec. 19, 2023.
The NYPD released surveillance video showing the suspects entering the house where four family members—including a 54-year-old man, 33-year-old woman, 5-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy—were asleep at the time and awoke to the men demanding money and jewelry.
NYPD
The terrifying robbery took a violent turn when the robbers struck the 5-year-old girl in the face with handguns. They also pistol-whipped the 33-year-old woman, her mother, according to cops.
The girl and woman suffered lacerations and bleeding to their face. EMS transported them to Staten Island University Hospital North for treatment.
NYPD
"The mom suffers a laceration to her head from being hit with a gun and the 5-year-old female is somehow struck in the face. We don't know how because one of the perpetrators threw the child to the floor. We're not sure if she sustained that injury from that or from being struck by one of the perpetrators," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters on Tuesday, according to the New York Post.
The man and boy were not harmed during the home invasion.
Police said the suspects made off with one item—a cellphone—before fleeing the scene.
Investigators believe the robbery was targeted and very amateurish.
"At one point when the three of them make entry with the guns a fourth perpetrator joins them in the kitchen and almost gets himself shot, which I thought would have been ironic," Kenny said.
Police did not provide information about the two other suspects.
