A police stand-off in Tompkinsville ended early today with three men in custody. Above, an ESU officer searches the area of a deli on the corner of Victory Boulevard and Fiedler Avenue for the suspects.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. --- It was a tense two hours in Tompkinsville last night after cops stopped a delicatessen hold-up and the gunmen retreated into the building — forcing a partial shutdown of the neighborhood as dozens of NYPD units mobilized to seek out the suspects, police said. Early today, cops took three men into custody in connection with the stand-off. No one was injured.
It was just after 10:30 p.m. when a passing patrol car spotted a gunpoint robbery in progress at Staten Convenient Food Market, located at 164 Victory Blvd. on the corner of Fiedler Avenue, sources told the Advance.
The three armed men fled into the building, which has two residential floors above the first-floor bodega.
The men were seen “heading upstairs,” according to police radio transmissions.
“They’re up on the roof, they have the advantage right now,” a lieutenant was heard broadcasting over the police scanner. “Have all MOS [members of service] take cover.”
Officers could be seen kneeling by their vehicles' doors, standing behind telephone poles and peering around the corners of nearby buildings. Arriving later to the scene was Assistant Chief Stephen Paragallo, commander of the borough’s police force.
Luis Marquez, 18, who lives on Fiedler, said: “It was pretty intimidating.”
Victory, Fiedler, Brook Street and Westervelt Avenue were all shut down as numerous specialty NYPD units — including Emergency Service, K-9, Hostage Negotiation Team and Technical Assistance Response Unit — clogged the surrounding roads. Ambulances were also called in should anyone require medical attention.
As two NYPD helicopters hovered overhead, cops with machine guns and a K-9 team stormed the building and conducted floor-by-floor, room-by-room searches.
“It’s like an earthquake right now, they’re hovering over my building,” said Robert Martin, 18, who resides on nearby Avon Place. As he spoke, the wind created by the helicopters blades scattered loose trash and swayed trees.
Just before 12:30 a.m., police escorted the three handcuffed suspects out the deli’s front door and into awaiting police cars.
They were all transported to the North Shore’s 120th Precinct stationhouse in St. George for questioning.
As of early this morning, police officials said charges were still pending.
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