RadioShack robbery leads to wild pursuit through Merrick

Two armed men robbed the RadioShack on Sunrise Highway in Merrick around 9:15 a.m. on May 5 and took off in a green 1996 four-door Ford Explorer, leading Nassau County police on a high-speed chase on Merrick Road in Merrick, according to authorities.

The pursuit ended when the suspects, identified by police as 19-year-old Samuel Johnson and 21-year-old Jody Odonoghue, both of Bay Shore, crashed the SUV into a pole at Merrick Road and Beach Street in Merrick, across from Dunkin Donuts. The two men then leapt from their vehicle and ran south on Beach toward Bernard Street. With weapons drawn, Nassau County police chased the two men into the backyards of nearby homes, where they were apprehended.

Authorities said the pair forced a RadioShack employee into the back of the store before robbing it of an undisclosed amount of cash. The alleged robbery was interrupted when a RadioShack employee entered the store.

Johnson and Odonoghue were charged with two counts of kidnapping in the second degree, robbery in the first degree, criminal use of a firearm in the first degree and robbery in the second degree. They were arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Sunday. At their arraignment, Johnson and Odonoghue were ordered to be held without bail. They are represented by the Legal Aid Society, which, as a matter of policy, does not comment on cases. The pair are due back in court on May 9, after press time.

Police shut down Merrick Road from Beach Street to Babylon Turnpike for about an hour after the SUV crashed while authorities investigated the scene.