East Meadow Woman Arrested for Robbery at Malverne Park Gas Station

An East Meadow woman and a man were arrested and charged with robbery Sunday evening after an altercation occurred at the USA gas station in Malverne Park.

According to Nassau County Police Detectives, three suspects entered the station, located at 471 Hempstead Ave., around 2:45 p.m. in a red Nissan Altima, and the driver asked the 58-year-old male attendant for $20 worth of gas. When the attendant notified the suspects that the credit card they were attempting to pay with was declined, one of them, Lapourcha Castro, 21, of East Meadow, allegedly threatened the victim with a silver box cutter. 

Then, Corey Deas, 22, of Freeport, allegedly grabbed the attendant around the throat and threw him to the ground, causing the victim to strike his head. As the victim attempted to get up, police say Deas began to punch him about the head and face.

The victim was able to get back to the office and grabbed a walking stick for protection. He damaged the vehicle’s driver’s side door as they fled the scene. 

A short time later the suspects called 911 and two of them, Deas and Castro, returned to the scene to report the damage to their vehicle. The gas station was shut down for hours as Nassau County Police officers and detectives interviewed Deas, Castro, and workers at the station. The victim suffered a laceration to his left knee and right arm, but refused medical attention at the scene.

Around 4:45 p.m., police handcuffed Deas and Castro and took them away in separate patrol cars. They were each charged with one count of second-degree robbery and were arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead Monday.

The third suspect has not yet been arrested, according to a spokeswoman for the Nassau County Police, who said the investigation is continuing.