The Riverhead man arrested in connection with two Main Street armed robberies last month has been indicted by a grand jury on felony robbery charges.
Brian Houpe Jr., 26, is being held at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in lieu of $500,000 bond/$250,000 cash bail.
A Suffolk County Court grand jury returned a six count indictment May 21 charging Houpe with four counts of robbery displaying a firearm and two counts of robbery with use of a dangerous instrument.
Robbery in the first degree is a class B felony, which could mean five to 25 years of prison time.
Houpe is accused of using a handgun to rob both Barth’s Drug Store on May 8 and Uncle Joe’s Pizza on May 12. He was arrested by Riverhead Police on May 15.
In both incidents, his face was covered. At Barth’s Drug Store he wore a gorilla mask, and at Uncle Joe’s Pizza, he wore a handkerchief covering half his face, Riverhead police said.
Houpe, represented by Riverhead attorney Elena Tomaro, was arraigned before before Suffolk County Criminal Court judge John Collins on May 27. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and is scheduled to return to court June 25.
Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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