Police search for thieves in East Main Street grocery store robbery

Police are searching for two men who held up a downtown Riverhead grocery store with a shotgun late Sunday.

Riverhead Town Police received a call of two suspicious, armed men near 726 East Main Street — which is near the intersection with Howell Avenue where town police headquarters and Riverhead Town Hall are located — about 10:15 p.m. Officers were waived down by the owner of Village Grocery, located on the south side of Main Street, when they arrived on the scene.

The store owner said he had been robbed by two men armed with a shotgun. He said the suspects then fled east on foot.

Police searched for the men and found the stolen items near the Long Island Rail Road tracks southeast of the crime scene. A police dog traced their scent to the River Point Apartment complex on East Main Street, where the shotgun was discovered hidden beneath a shed.

It was not immediately clear what the men took from the store.

The thieves are still at-large.

The suspects are described as black and between the ages of 18 and 20. One man is described as 5 -foot-7-inches tall with a medium build and the other is 6-foot-2 with a thin build. Both men were wearing hooded sweatshirts and had bandanas covering their faces.

Anyone with any information is asked to call detectives at 727-4500 ex. 289.