SCF Tip: Don't Go To A Bank Next To A Police Station

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If Thomas Dwight wanted to spend the money he swiped on Feb. 7, he would have had to board a plane bound for another continent to do so.

The purse he stole from a woman in Lindenhurst, N.Y., contained euros.

According to police documents, after Dwight, 18, allegedly robbed his victim and discovered the foreign currency, he proceeded to find a bank in an attempt to exchange the money for American dollars.

However, the purse snatcher was unaware that the various police departments in Suffolk County had been given a description of his getaway vehicle, a tan-colored Toyota.

Dwight's foreign exchange quest ended in the parking lot of a Chase Bank — located next to the Amityville Police Station.

Police officer John Sullivan, who was returning to the station after a twenty-minute search for the suspect's car, immediately recognized the occupied Toyota. The officer called for backup, and Dwight and another man, Jose Gallardo, were arrested without incident. They were later positively identified by the victim, the report said.

Dwight was charged with third-degree robbery; Gallardo was charged with criminal possession of stolen property.