Man Stole Credit Cards From Elderly Women: Suffolk Police

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — A man who stole credit cards by targeting elderly women at Suffolk County supermarkets was arrested Monday, Suffolk police said.

A 70-year-old woman reported a man stole her credit card from her purse at Stop & Shop, at 3126 Jericho Turnpike, East Northport, police said. Willie Vanderhall, 62, of Roosevelt, was arrested in the shopping center at 4:45 p.m., police said.

Detectives from the first and second squads, as well as those from Hate Crimes, found that Vanderhall also targeted at least two other women — ages 76 and 84 — earlier Monday at the Stop & Shop at 421 Commack Road, Deer Park, police said. The stolen credit cards were used to make purchases at Best Buy locations in Suffolk County, police said.

Vanderhall was charged with two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny as a hate crime and petty larceny as a hate crime. He was brought to a nearby hospital for a medical emergency unrelated to his arrest.

He is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on a later date.

The investigation is ongoing. Detectives are asking anyone with information to call Hate Crimes Detectives at 631-852-6323.