Crime & Safety

Arrests Made in Seaford Purse Snatching

Police charge man and woman in eight robberies including one at local Pathmark on Thursday.

A man and a woman have been arrested in connection with eight purse snatchings in the last five days including one in Seaford.

Alfonso Zitoli, 29, of Massapequa, and Veronica Sarabella, 30, of Deer Park, were arrested Saturday in connection with the purse snatchings, which included a this past Thursday at in Seaford. In this incident a 54-year old woman was walking through the parking lot of Pathmark located at 4055 Merrick Road when the operator of a black vehicle drove slowly alongside and grabbed her purse, police said. The victim was knocked to the ground when the vehicle fled northbound on Washington Avenue and suffered a contusion to the head.

Zitoli and Sarabella’s purse snatching spree began last Tuesday with a robbery at the Massapequa Long Island Rail Road station, according to police. The pair struck again at a King Kullen on Stewart Avenue in Bethpage Wednesday and at the Seaford Pathmark on Thursday, police said.

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The pair was also responsible for three robberies on Friday, the first one in Levittown in the Parking lot of B.J.s at 12:35 p.m. where Zitoli allegedly took the handbag out of the shopping cart of a 65-year-old woman who was placing packages in her car, police said.

A few minutes later, Sarabella allegedly drove up to a 31-year-old woman in the parking lot of Delco Plaza on South Broadway and grabbed the woman's handbag from her shoulder, causing her to be dragged by the car, before the bag broke free. The victim was hospitalized with leg contusions.

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At 1 p.m., Sarabella grabbed the bag of a 28-year-old woman at Jerusalem Avenue and Old Country Road in Hicksville, knocking her to the ground, police said. She refused medical attention.

The final two robberies took place Saturday, according to police. The pair allegedly swiped a purse from a 56-year-old woman's shopping cart at a King Killen on Northern Boulevard in Manhasset, at 4:33 p.m.  

About 50 minutes later, Zitoli drove alongside a 51 year-old woman in front of the Shop-Rite on Woodbury Road in Plainview and grabbed the handbag from the victim's right shoulder, police said. The woman hurt her shoulder, but also refused medical attention.

Zitoli and Sarabella were both charged with two counts of second-degree robbery, second-degree attempted robbery and three counts of fourth-degree grand larceny. Zitoli was also charged with three counts of third-degree robbery.  


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