Cops crack carjacking case, charge suspects in 2023 Glen Cove Road gas station heist

It was almost the perfect crime.

Two car thieves pulled into a Bolla Market/Mobil gas station on Glen Cove Road in Old Westbury last June with one car and left with two.

2 ex-cons with long criminal records are behind bars after they were ID'd as WANTED carjackers on a surveillance video at this Bolla Market.Photo byC.J. Teevan

Now, say police, they’ve got ’em.

Starlin Concepcion, 35, and Erich Cruz, 28, are both charged with 3 counts of 2nd degree Robbery and 1 count of 2nd degree Assault in connection with a June 2, 2023, carjacking in Old Westbury, Long Island.

Police say Cruz arrived at the Mobil gas station riding in a blue Honda Odyssey mini-van, with a Connecticut license plate, driven by Concepcion. They pulled into the parking lot outside the Bolla Market. Cruz, say police, got out and walked over to the black 2008 Acura MDX that was also parked there.

The keys for the Acura were in the ignition; the Acura engine was running; and the Acura door was unlocked, an Assistant District Attorney said at Cruz’s arraignment Friday morning, April 12, 2024.

The Acura was parked by the driver, who went inside the Bolla MarketPhoto byC.J. Teevan

Explicit details of the heist are further documented by Old Westbury Police Detective Michael Brown in official court filings. He says Cruz walked over to the Acura and got in, then put the car in reverse, ready to drive away.

Det. Brown says the Acura's owner saw Cruz driving his car. He ran out the Bolla Market door as Cruz was backing up, and grabbed a car window that was open.

But Cruz floored the gas pedal and the car shot forward, causing the Acura owner to lose his grip. He slammed his head on the gas station pavement.

Detective Brown says he got 5 stitches to close an eye wound and other injuries he got when Cruz allegedly took off with the stolen Acura, heading west on Jericho Turnpike, allegedly followed by Concepcion.

Old Westbury Police tracked down the suspected robbers on surveillance videos.Photo byC.J. Teevan

All of this was caught on camera. Still, police could not figure out who the men were.

Det. Brown says the Old Westbury Police Department conferred, among other things, with the NYPD Robbery Squad. That's how NYPD Detective Michael Magas identified Cruz from watching video surveillance of the incident as the same thief he arrested after another incident in New York City.

On April 2, Old Westbury Police Department had their arrest warrants ready to execute. Cruz was arrested 11 days later by Old Westbury detectives, and appeared before Judge Jaclene Agazarian in Nassau County District Court on Friday, April 12, 2024. Speaking through a Spanish interpreter, he pleaded Not Guilty to all charges.

Judge Agazarian set Cruz’s bail at $100,000. That means he's still locked up.

Before they could arrest Cruz’s accused accomplice, Starlin Concepcion, he was convicted of Grand Larceny. Concepcion began serving a 1 to 3 year sentence on March 29, 2024. The criminal charges in Nassau County will be waiting for him when he gets out.

Cruz returns to court this week.