Cops and Robbers Thriller Unfolds in Lake Carmel

A robbery suspect from Putnam County is pinned against a police cruiser outside the Lake Carmel General Store Monday. Eric Gross The scene resembled a cops-androbbers thriller when armed police officers surrounded a car with guns drawn and removed four suspects wanted for an armed robbery 35 miles away.

It was no motion picture set, but the real thing on Monday afternoon, when bystanders stood in disbelief as State Police, Kent Police, and members of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department took the suspects into custody in the parking lot of the Lake Carmel General Store on Route 311 in Lake Carmel.

The suspects, Timothy Shinkaroff, 21, of Lake Carmel, Henry Barcenas, 19, of Carmel, Anthony Heine, 19, of Lake Carmel, and Melissa Carofano, 19, of Stormville, were arrested on charges of first degree robbery and assault for allegedly attacking a 30-year-old man in a rear parking lot at the South Hills Mall in Poughkeepsie and robbing the victim of cash and his cell phone.

Police said the unidentified man was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, where he was treated in the emergency room and was later released.

Poughkeepsie Police Department Captain Paul Lecomce told the Courier the quartet was observed leaving the scene in a gold-colored Toyota: “A witness provided a license plate number and the information was broadcast on police hotline radio frequencies throughout the region.”

Less than an hour later, a member of the Brewster State Police observed the vehicle and radioed for back-up as it exited I-84 at Route 311 and pulled into the business parking area. As many as a dozen officers arrived moby ments later and quickly took the suspects into custody.

Capt. Lecomce said the “victim knew one of his assailants and was not a random target.” While the police official would not disclose the motive of the robbery, police sources in Putnam County said drugs were involved.

The four were arraigned on the charges in Poughkeepsie and were remanded to the Dutchess County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail each, pending future court action. District Attorney Adam Levy said first degree robbery was a Class B felony carrying a maximum 25-year state prison term if found guilty.