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June 19, 2009 | 02:23 PM
An armed burglary and assault on a Lake Grove family turned into a desperate chase through the streets Monday.
Four men and a woman have been arrested after they allegedly burst, armed, into an occupied home on Cobblestone Lane in Lake Grove June 15 around 7:30 pm, according to police. But a resident managed to immediately alert nearby police units, who arrived in time to see the burglars flee out the back door. Aided by helicopters and trained hounds, police gave chase by vehicle and on foot, eventually apprehending four alleged robbers after a failed attempt at stealing a getaway car. A fifth suspect evaded arrest until Thursday.
The burglars, armed with handguns, gained entrance to the home Monday the old-fashioned way — they knocked, according to Fourth Precinct Sergeant Edward Compagnone. A resident opened the door to see who was there, and the robbers forced their way inside, knocking the occupants — who included the owner, his wife and two small children — to the floor, and demanding cash and jewelry, police said. The male homeowner was pistol-whipped in the process. Police did not disclose the names of the victims.
An additional occupant — the owner's adult son — was upstairs at the time of the break-in, and hearing the commotion, managed to call 911 "before they got to him," Compangone said. Police patrol units in the area converged on the home "extremely quickly," arriving in time to see the suspects flee out of a back door towards their car, the sergeant said.
Cops apprehended one of the burglars, but the remainder made it to the vehicle and sped away, Compagnone continued. Calling in canine and aviation search units, police pursued in a short car chase, eventually stopping the getaway car. They arrested its driver, but two suspects had abandoned the vehicle and broke into another home in search of a new escape car.
Police did not release the name of the owner or the address of the second victimized home. The burglars managed to steal car keys, but were apprehended before they could access the vehicle, according to Compagnone.
Police initially arrested four suspects accused of the home invasion. Darryl Byrd, 26, of Brentwood and Jaquan Giles, 24, of Amityville have each been charged with a count of first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary and two counts of first-degree robbery. William Mason, 31, of Brentwood was charged with two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of first-degree robbery. Lorelle Williams, 27, of Amityville was charged with two counts of first-degree burglary and two counts of first-degree robbery.
The four pleaded not guilty at arraignments on July 16 and 17. Their attorneys had not returned calls for comment by press time.
On Thursday the department announced the arrest of a fifth person alleged to have participated in the June 15 attempted burglary. Jason Mosley, 27, of Amityville, Williams' boyfriend, was apprehended June 18 with the help of the U.S. Marshals' New York-New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force and Suffolk police emergency services and canine sections. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree burglary and two counts of first-degree robbery. Mosley was scheduled to be arraigned Friday. The state courts website had yet to name Mosley's attorney as of Friday noon.
A Fourth Precinct spokesman said the department does not anticipate any further arrests in conjunction with the home invasion.
Police could not say Thursday why the Brentwood and Amityville-based alleged burglars targeted a Lake Grove home. "It's still under investigation," Compagnone said.
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