Suffolk Co. Officials Offer Words Of Caution After 5 Men Pose As Plainclothes Detectives To Rob Homes
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) – The arrests of five men accused of posing as plainclothes detectives to gain entry to Long Island homes and ransack them has local officials offering words of caution.
"If detectives show up at your house, anyone should ask to see some form of identification, whether it be a shield or badge," Suffolk Chief of Detectives William Madigan told WCBS 880's Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs.
Suffolk County DA Tom Spota emphasized that advice.
"Almost all detectives do display their ID card as well," he said.
Each of the five phony detectives is being held on $1 million bail, Xirinachs reported.
Suffolk Co. Officials Offer Words Of Caution After 5 Men Pose As Plainclothes Detectives To Rob Homes
Spota said the suspects donned business suits, wore fake police badges and identified themselves as detectives to occupants at the homes of known drug dealers.
"And once they gained entrance into the house, they would brandish handguns, handcuff the people inside of the home and then ransack the home, getting as much as they possibly could," Spota told reporters earlier this week.
The suspects burglarized eight homes in Wyandanch, North Bay Shore, Bay Shore, North Babylon, Deer Park and Mastic, the DA said. Prosecutors say the men were arrested March 26 while en route to commit another home invasion.
The five are due back in court next month.
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