Police: 3 Young Men Arrested for Robbing Taxi Driver at Gunpoint

Photo: (l-r) Christopher Clausell, Quraan Williams and Marlik Petti-Frere

Three young men, one armed with a revolver, were arrested and charged with robbing a taxi driver Thursday morning in Westbury, police said.

According to police, a local taxi went to Cedar Road for a pickup and noticed four men sitting on the curb at 2:25 a.m. Two of the suspects reportedly entered the car and one of the men grabbed the driver by the neck and put him in a chokehold. The two other men, one who displayed a handgun, approached the taxi and demanded money from the victim, who then told the robbers he did not have any money, police said.

One of the robbers removed the keys from the vehicle and all four men fled on foot, police said.

Three of the suspects were arrested without incident after they were seen walking west on Prospect Avenue a short time later, police said.

Authorities recovered a black revolver during the arrest.

Authorities arrested:

• Quraan Williams, 18, of Westbury, and charged him with first degree robbery, second degree robbery, seventh degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and violation of a probation warrant.
• Christopher Clausell, 18, of Hempstead, and charged him with first degree robbery and second degree robbery.
• Marlik Petti-Frere, 16, of Westbury, and charged him with first degree robbery, second degree robbery, first degree criminal use of a firearm, second degree criminal possession of a weapon and fourth degree possession of stolen property.

The men will be arraigned on Friday at First District Court in Hempstead.

Detectives ask anyone with information about this crime to contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

A similar incident occurred in Westbury on Friday, July 3.

Image via NCPD