Two Men Arrested For Failed Gunpoint Robbery: Nassau Police

Two men from Roosevelt were arrested in Freeport early Friday morning after police say they tried to rob two people at gunpoint.

According to police, a 34-year-old man was walking to his car at 1:15 a.m. when he was approached by Arturo Vasquez Santillan, 25, of Washington Street. Police say Santillan pulled out a gun and demanded money from the man. A second person, a 32-year-old woman, walked over to see what was happening. Police say she saw a second robber, Reyes Lazo, 23, of the same address as Santillan, walk over with a handgun in the front of his pants.

Both the man and the woman were able to make it to their cars and get away, police say, without anything being stolen from them. Santillan and Lazo got into a black Toyota Camry with Tennessee license plates, police said, and fled the scene.

A short time later, Freeport police officers stopped the car on Long Beach Avenue and placed both men under arrest without incident.

Santillan is charged with first-degree attempted robbery, second-degree criminal use of a firearm, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree attempted robbery, criminal possession of a firearm, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana. Lazo is charged with first-degree attempted robbery, second-degree criminal use of a firearm, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree attempted robbery and criminal possession of a firearm. Both men are scheduled to be arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Friday.

Photo: Artura Vasquez Santillan, left, and Reyes Lazo. Courtesy Nassau County Police Department.