By Michael Malaszczyk
Two Romanian individuals residing in the United States illegally stole a $275,000 watch from a Greenvale jewelry store on July 17, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryde said at a press conference on Monday.
Petru Magdas, 49, and Petru Munteanu, 28, were arrested on Aug. 1 at their 217-30 Hollis Ave., Queens residence. They were found to be in possession of an Audemar Piguet Royal Oak watch, which had allegedly been stolen from Loucri Jewelers, located at 55 Northern Blvd.
“That address is an AirBNB,” Ryder said of their Queens address. “It is not their home address.”
According to Ryder, the pair are both Romanian nationals who are in the United States illegally, although how they got here is not currently known. He said Munteanu was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol on Dec. 28, 2021 in Florida and processed for an expedited removal from the country but was not yet placed into removal proceedings.
Magdas has been removed from the country before.
“Magdas has two previous removals from the United States,” Ryder said. “In 2017, he was caught and removed. In 2018, he was caught and removed. This is now strike three.”
Ryder, appearing alongside District Attorney Anne Donnelly, said that on July 17, one of the two men distracted store workers and bought a pair of sunglasses while the other grabbed the watch. Ryder said the pair are under investigation as part of a larger “Romanian theft group,” which is responsible for up to five recent robberies in Nassau County.
The pair were both charged with second-degree grand larceny. Munteanu was released with no bail, while Magdas is being held on an outstanding warrant due to the prior crimes.
“The warrant will hold him until he gets out on the warrant,” Ryder said. And there is a 24-hour rule in the State of New York: We’re not allowed to touch an undocumented person for 24 hours after release, so they get a 24-hour head start on us.”
Donnelly blasted Albany’s bail reform, claiming that the cashless bail law from 2020 is to blame for the ease with which Munteanu and Magdas could commit the crime.
“The fact that a judge cannot consider flight risk for someone on a bail non-eligible offense is a disgrace,” Donnelly said. “The Legislature needs to eliminate cashless bail for us and give the judges discretion to use danger to the community and to use all of those things in their judicial discretion of when to set bail.”
