Recent Police Academy Graduate Takes Down Burglars In Uniondale, Police Say
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Two men have been arrested in connection with a burglary on Long Island.
The suspects made their way into a home on Walton Avenue in Uniondale shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday by breaking through the back door, police said.
Once inside, police said the suspects were confronted by the residents of the home.
"They tried to get in the house here with a crowbar," Edgar Godinez told CBS2's Jennifer McLogan. "Came with a crowbar and tried to open the door. They tried to force the deadbolt and the door."
The recent police academy graduate was upstairs when he heard the commotion and came running.
"I put his hands behind his back and I put all my weight on him," Godinez said. "They weren't that strong, they were scared too. I had handcuffs, and I put them."
Godinez's father helped take down the intruders too.
Vitelio Cornejo, 34, was placed under arrest at the scene.
The second suspect, 32-year-old Marvin A. Segovia-Garcia, went toward one of the residents with a crowbar before fleeing on foot, police said.
He was later found in the bushes across from Nassau Coliseum, McLogan reported.
"Officers were able to locate the second suspect, he was hiding in a wooded area," Nassau County Police Officer Jean DeLuca said.
Segovia-Garcia was caught carrying the crowbar allegedly used to break into the home, Hall reported.
While neighbors are heaping praise on Godinez, Nassau County Police don't suggest the average homeowner try this on their own.
"They weren't expecting my dad and my brother to come and to do what they did," Godinez's brother, Danny, said. "They thought it was going to be easy. I'm proud of both of them."
"We stopped them and we held them until police could grab them," Godinez said.
Both men are charged with burglary, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal mischief and possession of burglar tools.
Segovia-Garcia is also facing assault and menacing charges.
Both men maintain their innocence. One says he was picked up at a Home Depot and told they were entering a house with a crowbar for repairs, and that they were wearing masks for construction dust, McLogan reported.
The men pleaded not guilty to burglary, assault and menacing.