Crime & Safety
Cops: Game Stop Armed Robber Caught; Same Man Charged With String of Suffolk Hold-Ups
The same gunman charged in a string of armed holdups will be charged with the Mattituck incident, police said.
The armed robber who held up the Mattituck Game Stop at gunpoint has been caught, police said — and he's the same suspect charged in a string of Suffolk County hold-ups.
According to Southold Town Police and Suffolk County Police, Paul Tromblee, 35, of Manorville was arrested Saturday and charged charged with a string of armed robberies across Suffolk County over the past two weeks, including one at a Calverton Hess station, police said Sunday.
Suffolk County police said they arrested Tromblee on Sunrise Highway in Brookhaven on Saturday at 3:05 p.m.
Since Oct. 26, gas stations in Calverton, Mastic, North Babylon, St. James, Dix Hills, and Bohemia as well as Jamba Juice in Stony Brook, Kissed by the Sun Tanning in Islip, and CVS Pharmacy in Lake Ronkonkoma were robbed by an armed suspect who demanded cash after pretending to purchase merchandise, police said.
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Utilizing video surveillance as well as tips, including information received through the Crime Stoppers number, police said pattern crime unit detectives identified Tromblee.
He was located by detectives on Saturday while he was driving on Sunrise Highway in Brookhaven.
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Tromblee was charged with eight counts of robbery first degree, a felony, and one count of robbery in the third degree, a felony, and was scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Sunday.
Southold Town police said the armed robbery of the Game Stop in Mattituck on Tuesday was cleared on Saturday with Tromblee's arrest. Early in the investigation of the robbery of the Game Stop on Nov. 5, Southold detectives and their counterparts in Suffolk County considered that they may be looking at the same suspect, police said.
Upon his arrest yesterday by Suffolk police, Southold detectives were contacted and took action to complete their investigation.
After the robbery, a young clerk shared his terrifying ordeal with Patch.
Additional charges for Tromblee are forthcoming regarding the Game Stop robbery in Southold Town, police said.
Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential.
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