Two men have been cuffed for their alleged roles in a wild Queens stickup spree early on Monday morning during which a Woodside pharmacy worker was shot in the head and critically injured.
Federal agents identified the suspects as Scott Brack, 50, of Brooklyn and Elgin Brack, 22, of the Bronx. A law enforcement source familiar with the case said that Scott Brack is Elgin Brack’s uncle. The source said that Scott Brack drove Elgin Brack around as he committed each of the four robberies.
Both suspects are now awaiting arraignment in Brooklyn federal court on federal robbery charges, the sources said. At a press conference, NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea credited cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s office of the Eastern District of New York, the ATF and the Queens Robbery Squad for cracking the case.
The first episode in the stickup spree ended violently, when Elgin Brack allegedly shot a 49-year-old employee behind the counter of the Duane Reade pharmacy located at 60-02 Roosevelt Ave. in Woodside. Sources said the suspect got into an argument with the employee, then shot him in the head and hand before fleeing empty-handed.
The victim remains hospitalized at Elmhurst Hospital in critical but stable condition, law enforcement sources said.
A source told QNS that Scott Brack then drove Elgin Brack to three other locations over the next two hours. They included a 7-Eleven convenience store located near the corner of Northern Boulevard and Woodside Avenue in Woodside about a half-hour after the Duane Reade shooting; a Rite Aid pharmacy at the corner of 30th Avenue and 33rd Street in Astoria; and finally a Rite Aid pharmacy located at the corner of 115th Avenue and Merrick Boulevard in St. Albans.
In each of those incidents, authorities said, Elgin Brack allegedly approached the counter posing as a customer making a purchase, then displayed a firearm at a cashier and demanded money.
Shea indicated that “a lot of good detective work” and “a mix of different” technological aspects led law enforcement agents to the suspects, whose vehicle was tracked to a Bronx location.
The Bracks are facing federal robbery charges under the Hobbs Act, a law enforcement source said.
This story was updated on Nov. 27 at 5:10 p.m.
