Bohemia couple Randy Hill and Donna Hovanec charged with robbing Chase bank, other stores
A Bohemia couple was charged with robbing the Chase Bank on Vanderbilt Motor Parkway in Commack. Credit: Google Maps
A couple from Bohemia was arrested on Thursday, charged with robbing a Chase Bank branch last month in Commack and what police described as a string of other robberies and an attempted robbery in a spree spanning several communities.
Suffolk County police identified the two — Randy Hill, 48, and Donna Hovanec, 45 — as boyfriend and girlfriend and said they were charged with third-degree robbery in connection with the Chase Bank robbery on Aug. 14.
The two also were each charged with three counts of first-degree robbery for the Aug. 16 robbery of a Dollar Tree store in East Patchogue, an Aug. 22 robbery of a Dollar Tree store in Medford and a robbery of a Starbucks on Sunrise Highway in Bohemia on Sept. 2.
The pair also was charged with first-degree attempted robbery of the Sunoco-Dix Hills Tire and Auto location on Deer Park Avenue in Dix Hills on Aug. 25.
Police said Major Case Unit detectives investigated the August robbery at the Chase Bank on Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, and said in that case a man, later identified as Hill, entered the bank at 4:45 p.m., handing a demand note to a teller who then complied.
Police said Hill, wearing a baseball cap, white dress shirt, black pants and black shoes, then fled on foot.
Hill pleaded not guilty at arraignment before Judge Alonzo G. Jacobs on Friday in First District Court in Central Islip. Bail was set at $500,000 cash, $750,000 insured bond or $1,000,000 partially secured surety bond, according to online court records.
Hovanec faces arraignment at a later date, police said.
It was not immediately clear if Hill or Hovanec are represented by counsel.
John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.
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