NASSAU COUNTY, NY (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Three men were arrested and charged with grand larceny after allegedly robbing numerous Sephora stores in Nassau County in November and December, the Nassau County Police Department announced Saturday.
On Friday, Devon Findlay and Shakair Moncrieffe, 30 and 25 respectively, of Brooklyn, were charged with six counts of third-degree grand larceny alongside Rickardo Wallace, 22, of Queens.
Officials said that between Nov. 25 and Dec. 15 the three defendants allegedly acted in concert in six different crimes to take merchandise from a Nassau County Sephora location, stuff it in their backpacks and pass all points of purchase without trying to pay for it.
On Nov. 25 the trio allegedly robbed a Sephora located at 1688 Merrick Road in Merrick. The robbers then switched between hitting a location at 3715 Long Beach Road in Oceanside and a location at 369 Oyster Bay Road in Plainview on-and-off for the next several weeks.
In total, the Sephora in Oceanside was robbed three times, and the Sephora in Plainview was robbed twice.
Authorities said that the defendants allegedly fled the scene of each robbery in a white 2011 BMW.
The last robbery occurred at the Oceanside Sephora on Friday, Dec. 15.
At 3:30 p.m. the same day, the responding officer sent out a description of the suspects who committed the crime.
Shortly after the description was dispatched, officers spotted the vehicle with the defendants and initiated a traffic stop at Oceanside Avenue and Cypress Avenue.
Police said that Findlay, Moncrieffe and Wallace were arrested without incident and the merchandise stolen Friday was recovered from the car.
The defendants were arraigned Saturday in Hempstead.