Three men have been indicted for allegedly robbing a Gulf gas station (pictured) in Sunnyside last month as well as a deli in East Elmhurst (Photo: GMaps)
Dec. 16, 2022 By Christian Murray
Three Brooklyn men have been charged in connection to two gunpoint robberies that took place last month—with one allegedly taking place at a gas station in Sunnyside and the other at a deli in East Elmhurst.
Reginald Williams, 23, Calvin Scantlebury, 39, and Dewkwan Cooper, 22, were indicted and arraigned by a grand jury Thursday on robbery and other charges for allegedly holding up two people at gunpoint at a Gulf gas station in Sunnyside and a deli in East Elmhurst on Nov. 20.
Williams was also charged for a series of separate armed robberies. He allegedly held up 13 people at gunpoint at eight different stores across Queens.
“As alleged, these are predators on our small businesses,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. “We cannot stand by and watch our lives and communities be targeted.”
The three men were indicted for taking part in two holds shortly after midnight on Nov. 20. In the first incident, the trio allegedly robbed a deli at 92-22 Astoria Blvd at around 12:30 a.m. and took $4,000 from the cash register along with rolling papers.
About 30 minutes later, the men allegedly held up the Gulf gas station at 39-04 Skillman Ave. and stole $1,700 from two registers and multiple boxes of Newport cigarettes.
According to Katz, both robberies were captured on video surveillance.
Meanwhile, Williams allegedly confessed to eight additional robberies, where he was joined by different accomplices. The gunpoint robberies—all taking place at around midnight and in neighborhoods such as Maspeth, Ridgewood and Flushing–allegedly occurred between Nov. 8 and Nov. 17. In most of the robberies, the men took at least $1,000 in cash and cigarettes.
Williams, Scantlebury and Cooper were busted shortly after the Nov. 20 robberies, when an officer conducting patrol in Jackson Heights heard a call over the NYPD channel about three suspects in a Nissan Maxima who had allegedly just robbed a gas station and deli.
The officer observed the vehicle by 79-01 Broadway and followed it five blocks and then pulled the car over for a traffic stop. The officer saw the three men alongside multiple boxes of Newport cigarettes.
The NYPD then conducted a search and allegedly recovered cash, rolling papers, cigarettes and a loaded 40 caliber pistol with 14 rounds of ammunition from the men.
The three men face length sentences if convicted, with Williams facing up to 350 years in prison, Scantlebury up to 30 years and Cooper as many as 15 years in prison.
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