4 Charged In Theft Of $90K In Handbags From East Hampton Shop: PD

EAST HAMPTON, NY — Four thieves from Newark, NJ were arrested and charged with stealing more than $90,000 worth of handbags from an East Hampton store Thursday, police said.

According to New York State Police, the incident took place at 1:30 p.m.; East Hampton Village Police responded to a reported larceny at the Balenciaga retail store, located at 54 Newtown Lane, police said.

East Hampton Village police said three males and two females entered the store and grabbed the expensive handbags off the shelves; no one was armed and all left the store within 30 seconds, police said.

Store employees said the thieves fled in a black Dodge Durango, police said. Within minutes, an East Hampton Village Police officer spotted the Durango and attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver failed to comply, police said. The pursuit was called off by village police so as not to create an unsafe situation to the public when the driver took off at a reckless rate of speed, police said.

A short time later, a New York State trooper spotted the vehicle traveling on Sunrise Highway near Westhampton Beach, police said.

The trooper attempted to stop the Durango, but the driver again refused to pull over, police said. The Durango was seen heading onto the Long Island Expressway; the vehicle became disabled with a flat tire near the Exit 69 off-ramp — and the five inside the car attempted to run from the scene into a wooded area adjacent to the LIE, police said.

A multi-agency pursuit followed, including Suffolk County Police Department aviation, a SCPD K-9 unit, Suffolk County Police, a New York State Police K-9 unit and East Hampton Village Police.

A trooper arrested one person, and after a brief search, three others were arrested with the assistance of the Suffolk County Police Department, police said. Numerous handbags were recovered from the scene, and were identified as being from the theft in East Hampton, police said.

Three men and one woman were arrested, police said. One person remains at large, police said.

New York State Police arrested Baseemah Davis, 34, Ali Abul Harris, 28, Jamal Revelt Johns, 25, and Wazir Rodgers, 24; all were charged with one count of second-degree grand larceny, a felony, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony, police said.

The four will be arraigned at both East Hampton Court and Suffolk County First District Court, police said.