Police

Alleged serial armed robber held on $100k bail

PAUL TROMBLEE
PAUL TROMBLEE

A Manorville man who police say is responsible for a string of robberies across Suffolk County – including one at a Hess gas station in Calverton – remains held on $100,000 cash bail and is due back in court on Friday.

Paul Tromblee, 35, was arrested on Saturday and was seen in First District Court in Central Islip on Sunday.

Online court records indicate that Tromblee is being held on $200,000 bond or $100,000 cash bail. Currently, Mr. Tromblee stands charged with eight counts of first-degree robbery and one count of third-degree robbery.

The Hess gas station — located on Edwards Avenue, barely in the jurisdiction of the SCPD – was robbed Oct. 30, after a man pulled a handgun on a store clerk, demanding cash from the register about 7:45 p.m.

Since Oct. 26, gas stations in Calverton, Mastic, North Babylon, St. James, Dix Hills, and Bohemia as well as Jamba Juice in Stony Brook, Kissed by the Sun Tanning in Islip, and CVS Pharmacy in Lake Ronkonkoma were robbed by an armed suspect who demanded cash after pretending to purchase merchandise, police said. Utilizing video surveillance as well as tips, including information received via Crime Stoppers, Pattern Crime Unit detectives identified the suspect as Mr. Tromblee. He was located by detectives while driving on Sunrise Highway in Brookhaven around 3 p.m. Saturday.

Southold Police announced shortly after the Mattituck GameStop robbery that a link between the incident and the others further west were likely evident.

Mohammed Kahn, the clerk at the Calverton Hess, told the News-Review on the night of the incident that the robber walked straight up to the register and demanded cash, first giving him the impression that the act was a trick.

“I was looking to him like he was joking,” Mr. Kahn said at the time.

Detectives are continuing to investigate if Mr. Tromblee is responsible for similar incidents that occurred recently. Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. Police said all calls will remain confidential.

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