Valley Stream Man Pleads Not Guilty After Police Announce 7-11 Robbery Arrest

VALLEY STREAM, NY. — A Valley Stream man pleaded not guilty to two counts of third-degree robbery and a fourth-degree count of criminal mischief Sunday, court documents show, after police said he was arrested in connection with the Jan. 21 robbery of a Franklin Square 7-11.

Nassau County police said 20-year-old Benjamin Mendoza-Colato was arrested and charged Sunday in connection with the January incident. In that incident, police said a man had entered the Franklin Square 7-11, taken three cans of White Claw hard seltzer from a refrigerator and put them in his pockets. When an employee of the 7-11 told the man she was calling 911, the man took the phone from her hand and a fight broke out, spilling into the parking lot with a male employee of the 7-11 attempting to help his coworker, police said.

Police said the man left the 7-11 parking lot on foot. On Sunday, police arrested and charged Mendoza-Colato. Court documents say he’s due back in court next week, Feb. 23. He is scheduled to appear before Judge Anthony Paradiso.