The incident took place around 6:12 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 30, in the area of the Green Acres Mall, in Valley Stream, said the Nassau County Police.
According to detectives, the two Queens men were passengers in a transport van in the vicinity of Green Acres Mall. One of the passengers repeatedly removed his mask from his nose and mouth, police said.
The male driver, 60, had a verbal argument about the mask remaining on at all times. The van made a stop to allow the passengers to exit and the man from the altercation punched the victim in his neck and a second man removed an undisclosed amount of money from the victim’s hand, police said.
The two then fled the scene.
Following an investigation, Frederick Thomas, age 24, of Far Rockaway, and Tajh Parker, 19, Cambria Heights, were arrested.
Both were charged with robbery and were held for arraignment on Thursday, Dec. 31 in Mineola.
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