Far Rockaway Man Accused Of Holding Up AutoZone Arrested: Police

NORTH LAWRENCE, NY. — A Far Rockaway man was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree robbery, police announced Wednesday, after authorities said he held up a North Lawrence AutoZone at gunpoint in January.

The incident in question took place at 9:13 a.m. on Jan. 19, when 61-year-old Tony Ogarro walked into the AutoZone with a cardboard box and approached a trio of employees, police said. Ogarro displayed a handgun while approaching the 34-year-old woman, 69-year-old man and 40-year-old man who were working at the store, and demanded that they place cash from the store’s registers in the box, police said.

After the employees put the cash together, police said, Ogarro fled the scene on foot.

While investigating the Jan. 19 incident, County police said they found Ogarro to have been responsible for an additional robbery that had taken place four days earlier. In that Jan. 15 incident, a man had entered a Freeport DCAP insurance location and made demands at gunpoint, police said. The gun-wielding man involved in that incident left the store with an undisclosed amount of cash, an electronic device and a white pocketbook, police said.

A joint investigation between Nassau County and Freeport police departments led to Ogarro's arrest, police said. His arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday, police said.