Nassau police believe that the two men nabbed in Hicksville Friday night for stealing handbags from two women walking on Kuhl Avenue are most likely linked to a spree of purse snatchings that span the past four months.
“We are happy to see these individuals off the street. We believe we have closed out the pattern of 14 other pocketbook robberies that date back to October 2010. It feels good,” said Nassau Police Detective Vincent Garcia. “They were preying on girls and elderly women in their driveways and in the street.”
Adesola Oguntunji, 20, of Westbury, and Lucson Desir, 22, of New Cassell, match the descriptions given by 14 purse-snatching victims across Nassau since last October. Both were charged with one count of robbery for the crime committed in Hicksville, but the investigation is continuing regarding their possible link to the past robberies.
Police filed a suspicious activity report on Desir and Oguntunji last Nov. 16 after observing the pair driving around Jericho for about 10 minutes. When police asked the duo what they were doing, they replied they were meeting women, but were unable to give the names of the women.
Each man is being held on $100,000 bond or $50,000 cash bail.
