RSS 2.0 FeedSeptember 22, 2011, Bellmore Life
Home invaded in North Bellmore
Occupant Ghulam Sumra believes the invasion was planned.
FAMILY SHAKEN: Bullet holes pierce the windshield of the getaway car stopped in Wantagh (see arrows) after gun shots were fired in Merrrick, far left. At left, occupant Ghulam Sumra said the family was held at gunpoint and knifepoint, and family members went to hospital.
A North Bellmore family’s home was invaded and ransacked while they were held at gunpoint and knifepoint on Monday morning as they readied for work.
Ghulam Sumra, an occupant of the house who was in his downstairs bedroom shortly after 8 a.m., told this newspaper he was awakened with a knife to his throat by a man demanding money. “
“Give me money or I’ll kill you,” Mr. Sumra said the man said to him. “I gave him $300 that was under my pillow,” he said of his harrowing experience.
Bullet holes puncture the windshield of the getaway car, stopped in Wantagh. Photo by Doug Finlay.
When he went upstairs to tell his family of his experience, he found four other family members tied up and bound with rope. Four Spanish speaking and African-American men were ransacking the house, ripping out cabinet drawers, rifling through cabinets and strewing things around the house.
The entire episode took roughly an hour, Mr. Sumra said.
Mr. Sumra said there was jewelry in the home, and there was a large amount of cash also in the house, both missing once the men left. He said his cell phone was also taken.
According to Mr. Sumra, his sister-in-law Shabam, who owns Fresh Look Beauty Salon in Bellmore, had just opened the door to leave for work when a gunman startled her at the door, pushing her back in.
Later, once his nephew Haris arrived after dropping his daughter off at a local university, the gunman opened the door and pulled Haris in, ripping his shirt.
Three family members were later taken to the hospital for treatment of bruises and contusions, according to Mr. Sumra – and Nassau County Detective Lieutenant Kevin Smith.
A man identified only as AJ told Bellmore Life he was leaving his home near the scene of the invasion when he heard screams for help. "I followed a white car down Bellmore Avenue to Newbridge Road, then to Camp Avenue and then Park Avenue, where it turned onto Smith Street and sped to Babylon Turnpike. "
He said he got on his cellphone to tell the police of his pursuit. He said the police picked up the chase at Babyon Turnpike.
Detective Lieutenant Smith told this newspaper – at the Merrick Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep car dealership in Wantagh, where the driver of a white Crown Victoria getaway car was apprehended with a gunshot wound to his leg – that no proceeds from the home invasion were found in the car.
The model car is commonly used as a police car, complete with a mounted search light.
The windshield had two bulletholes in it, received when the driver dropped off his three accomplices in the vicinity of Levy-Lakside School in Merrick and gunshots were exchanged with police.
Police believe that three of the assailants fled fled on foot and scattered while the driver sped away in the car.
Ann Reynolds of Merrick told this newspaper she heard shots being fired, saw helicopters hovering overhead, and heard sirens and screeching of wheels. She opened the door top see what was was happening and was ordered by police to go back inside, lock her doors and stay there until it was safe.
Levy-Lakeside School quickly went into lockout when it was learned one or more suspects had been dropped off in the area.
According to police, one suspect sought a place to hide in the back yard of the neighborhood around Lindenmere Drive, Merrick, and was seen entering the yard of a neighbor who was not home at the time.
Meanwhile a third capture was made in a wooded area near Lakeside bringing the count to three arrests.
An African-American man was also being questioning after hailing a cab in the Merrick area to take him to Brooklyn.
Mr. Sumra believes the family was targeted for the invasion because several people had been coming to their house with briefcases, asking questions.
He added that Pakistanis, which the Sumras are, are known for keeping jewels in their homes.
– With additional reporting by Chris McBride
