Downtown shop burglarized for second time this month

A downtown store that was the scene of an armed robbery on Nov. 1 fell victim to crime again early Wednesday morning, according to Riverhead Police.

Officers responded to an alarm at Damaris Multi Services on East Main Street at 1:39 a.m. and found the glass to the front door smashed in, according to police.

The thief or thieves took several cellphones from a glass counter and fled, officials said.

A police K9 unit tracked the area and police say the suspect took off in a westbound direction, although no one was located.

Police ask anyone with information pertaining to the case to call them at 727-4500.

This same location, which is within walking distance of police headquarters, had been robbed in broad daylight on Nov. 1, when a man wearing all black with a red bandanna covering his face entered the store and displayed a black handgun to employees shortly before 2 p.m., and then fled on foot with $2,300 cash the he stole from the store’s cash register, according to police.

Within a day of that robbery, police arrested Ishmael Norris, 24, whom they said is homeless. He was charged him with first-degree robbery, a felony.

A police K-9 unit had tracked Mr. Norris to a nearby apartment complex, where he was located and arrested, according to police.