Police Searching for Robbers of Thornwood Verizon Store
Mount Pleasant police are searching for two men who stole cell phones from the Verizon store in the Rose Hill Shopping Center in Thornwood Wednesday morning.
Mount Pleasant Police Chief Paul Oliva said at about 10:30 a.m. the Verizon store at 660 Columbus Ave. in Thornwood was robbed.
“One African American male entered the store wearing a lime green reflective vest over his clothing and an orange construction hard hat,” Oliva said. “This subject displayed and threatened the store manager with a handgun. The manager was ordered to the back of the store and a second African American male entered the store wheeling a large blue suitcase into the store.”
The robbers took an unknown number of cell phones from a safe in the rear of the store, according to Oliva.
Oliva said said the subjects fled in a dark-colored four-door sedan, possibly a Toyota, he said.
An investigation of the scene commenced. Tarrytown detectives were also notified and responded to the scene because there was a similar robbery of a Verizon store in their jurisdiction in March, Oliva said. The matter remains under investigation.
Mount Pleasant Superintendent of Schools Dr. Susan Guiney said the police department contacted the school district shortly after officers arrived at the crime scene. As a precaution, the district implemented a temporary lock-out at Columbus Elementary School, Westlake Middle School and Westlake High School, she said.
Guiney sent an e-mail blast to residents to district residents. Students and staff were not permitted to the buildings and no visitors were allowed to enter.
“At no time was there an immediate threat to students or staff at either Columbus or Westlake,” Guiney stated.
The lock-out ended at about 1 p.m., she said.
The Mount Pleasant Police Department is asking anyone with information or who may have witnessed the crime to call 914-769-1941.
