Man Brandishes What Appears To Be Handgun During Riverhead Robbery: PD

RIVERHEAD, NY —A man was arrested Tuesday after a Riverhead gas station robbery a day earlier, police said.

Melvin T. Trent, 30, was arrested and charged with second-degree robbery and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Riverhead Town police said.

A report came in Monday at 7:21 p.m. about a robbery that had taken place at the Mobil gas station on East Main St. earlier that morning at about 1:25 a.m., police said. The person making the complaint said that Trent entered the store and was not allowed to buy tobacco because he owed money to the store from an October, 2022 incident, police said.

Trent then displayed what appeared to be a handgun and demanded the tobacco while making threats to the employee, police said.

On Tuesday, Trent was arrested by Riverhead detectives; during the investigation, a weapon was recovered and identified as a BB gun, police said.

Trent was held for arraignment in Riverhead Town justice court, police said.