Man Convicted of Assault, Burglary After Bellmore Crime Spree

A jury convicted a Bethpage man of assault, burglary and other charges after he went on a violent crime spree in Bellmore in October 2009.

According to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, Leonidas Cotsifas, 51, robbed a teenage girl, attempted to steal a woman's car at a gas station while her son was still in it and beat a 71-year-old man so severely that he required a three-month hospital stay.

Rice said that at about 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 1, 2009, Cotsifas entered the first-floor apartment of a two-family home on Centre Avenue in Bellmore. Cotsifas then moved up the stairs to the second-floor apartment where he confronted an 18-year-old girl who lived there with her family. Cotsifas threatened the girl with a crowbar, stole her laptop computer and left the house.

Shortly thereafter and still on-foot, Cotsifas attempted to steal a Chevy Trailblazer at the Valero gas station on the corner of Sunrise Highway and Centre Avenue. The owner of the vehicle was pumping gas when Cotsifas got into the driver's seat and attempted to drive away with the vehicle owner's 12-year-old son still sitting in the passenger seat. When the vehicle owner banged on the driver's side window, Cotsifas exited the vehicle south on Centre Avenue and then west on Nassau Street, where he broke into the basement of another home.

Cotsifas allegedly used a brick paving stone to brutally beat the 71-year-old man who was living in the basement apartment he broke into. Cotsifas then bound the victim's legs with electrical wire, put on articles of the victim's clothing, and shaved his head to alter his own appearance before leaving the apartment with the victim's cash and gold jewelry valued at more than $20,000.

"The evidence in this case was overwhelming, thanks to the expert work by the Nassau County Police Department and prosecutors from my office," said Rice said. "The streets of our community are safer with this violent criminal off the streets."

After eight hours of deliberation, a jury convicted Cotsifas of Assault in the First Degree, two counts of Burglary in the First Degree, three counts of Burglary in the Second Degree, Unlawful Imprisonment in the First Degree, Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree, as well as misdemeanor charges of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, two counts of Petit Larceny, Attempted Grand Larceny, Possession of Burglar's Tools, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fifth Degree, and Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle in the Third Degree.

He faces up to 50 years to life in prison because of his status as a persistent violent felony offender. He will be sentenced Nov. 18.