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Pattern Crime Unit

File photo

An armed robber who restrains victims before stealing cash has hit another location in Suffolk County, according to police.

The suspect entered Beach Bum Tanning in Huntington Station on Friday night with a handgun and forced two employees to the back of the store and then restrained them, the Suffolk County Police Department said. The man then took cash from the shop’s drawers.

Neither female employee was injured in the incident, police said, and there were no customers in the East Jericho Turnpike store at the time of the robbery, at about 8:30 p.m. But the crime was a familiar one.

Police have already been on the hunt for the suspect, who followed a similar routine at the Huntington Station Pier 1 Imports, also on East Jericho, on Nov. 22. In that armed robbery, the suspect restrained employees and customers at the back of the store, then made an employee open the shop’s safe and took cash from the registers.

The two crimes were similar to those that have taken place across Long Island since late August, including four robberies at women’s clothing stores in Suffolk County: on Sept. 7 in East Farmingdale, on Oct. 12 in West Babylon, on Oct. 26 in Deer Park and on Nov. 2 in North Lindenhurst.

The suspect in all of the armed robberies is described as black, between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall, and of a thin to medium build, police said. During the Pier 1 robbery, he was wearing a mask and a hoodie, but police said he was wearing a scarf and a hat during the Beach Bum Tanning robbery.

Detectives from the SCPD’s Pattern Crime Unit are investigating the incident and Suffolk County Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-220-TIPS.

Joseph DiSclafani mugshot from SCPD

Police arrested a suspect in a Centereach bank robbery on Wednesday, more than a month after a man in dark clothing held the place up.

The Suffolk County Police Department said detectives relied on video surveillance and public tips through Crime Stoppers to identify the suspect, 48-year-old Centereach resident Joseph DiSclafani. Police allege he is the one who robbed the People’s United Bank on Middle Country Road on the morning of June 26, walking into the bank and passing a teller a note demanding cash.

Attorney information for DiSclafani, who was charged with third-degree robbery, was not immediately available.

Police said after the teller gave the suspect cash, he fled on foot in his dark-colored baseball cap, black T-shirt, dark jeans and sunglasses.

At the time of the robbery, police described the man as white with a heavy build, between 45 and 50 years old and about 5 feet 7 inches tall.

Once detectives from the SCPD’s Pattern Crime Unit identified DiSclafani as a suspect, they placed him under surveillance, police said. They arrested him Wednesday without incident and he was scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.

File photo

Police say a man dressed in women’s clothing robbed a Smithtown bank on April Fool’s Day.

The man entered the TD Bank on Nesconset Highway around 4 p.m. on Wednesday and displayed a note that said he had a gun and demanded cash, the Suffolk County Police Department said. The teller gave the man an undetermined amount of cash.

The suspect fled west from the bank, police said, possibly in a light-colored vehicle.

Detectives from the SCPD’s Pattern Crime Unit are investigating the robbery. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.