Homeless Man Charged in Connection with Riverhead Robbery
Riverhead police have made an arrest in one of the two beatings and attempted robberies that occurred Friday.
A 20-year-old homeless man, Monwell A. Wright, was charged with two counts of first-degree attempted robbery plus second-degree assault and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Police said Friday that a 26-year-old local man was walking to work on Sweezy Avenue when around 6:15 a.m., at the intersection with Pulaski Street, he was approached by a woman and man. The woman pointed a handgun while the man demanded money, and then the man struck the victim in the face and head with a large rock, knocking him to the ground, a police statement reads. The man continued to beat the victim with the rock and demand money. When a vehicle passed by, the robbers fled east on Pulaski Street, according to the statement. They did not get any money.
Wright was arrested at 2:11 p.m. on Railroad Avenue without incident, police said. In his possession was a Desert Eagle Airsoft Pistol and two suboxone sublingual films, according to police.
Police did not say anything about the woman who reportedly held the victim at gunpoint.