Another conviction in home invasion case

A jury has convicted a Brooklyn man of a slew of charges in connection with his role in a violent home invasion in North Bellmore that led to a high-speed chase through Merrick and Wantagh in September 2011, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said last Friday.

Eduardo Cruz, 36, was found guilty of several crimes related to an attack in which he and two other men beat and tied up several North Bellmore residents in their home near Bellmore Avenue and Fowler Street before robbing them. He now faces up to 25 years in prison, Rice said.

Cruz was convicted of 11 counts of first-degree burglary, nine counts of fist-degree robbery, five counts of second-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, four counts of second-degree unlawful imprisonment, attempted unlawful imprisonment, two counts of second-degree assault, fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and third-degree escape on July 19.

Rice said that Cruz and two other accomplices, Gustavo Arroyo and Carlos Segura, left a car driven by Dario Guerrero and approached a North Bellmore home on Sept. 19, 2011, at about 8:30 a.m. Cruz entered the home through the unlocked front door and beat a female resident, Shabnam Sumra, before signaling to Segura and Arroyo to come inside. Segura, armed with a gun, and Cruz and Arroyo, armed with knives, tied up three residents and searched for money, officials said.

Haris Sumra, who was 20 at the time, previously told the Herald that his mother, Shabnam, his father, Arshad, and a family friend had their wrists and ankles bound. Seven thousand dollars in cash was stolen.