by Ed Robinson and Maggie Haberman, The New York Post
A hostage drama straight out of “Dog Day Afternoon” was playing out in Valley Stream, Long Island N.Y. this morning, with crisis negotiators coaxing armed robbers into freeing at least 11 hostages they held at a Staples office supply store, cops and witnesses said.
At least seven of the hostages were released early this morning and hospitalized, said Drew MacKenzie, a former Post deputy news editor whose teen son, Kyle, was among those freed.
MacKenzie said there was apparently only one person injured - the store manager, who was thrown down a flight of stairs.
The showdown began at around 9:43 p.m., apparently after a botched robbery attempt at the office-supply store, Nassau County police said.
The number of bandits was unclear, as was whether any customers were among the hostages.
But cops said the robbers were heavily armed, and police shut down traffic on Sunrise Highway near the store in Valley Stream as negotiations wore on.
Several hostages called cops from inside the store.
Terrified relatives of the hostages were told there were at least 11 captives, including four hiding in the store basement, MacKenzie said.
He said yesterday was the first day on the job at Staples for 17-year-old Kyle, a high school student who was among the first seven freed.
MacKenzie said his wife spoke to Kyle, who told her, “Ma, don’t worry. You worry too much. I’m fine.”
“I’m relieved now, obviously,” MacKenzie said. “We were very tense.”
Umair Khan, a 15-year- old student whose apartment overlooks the store, saw the first hostages go free.
They “had their hands up, they were crouching low and walking fast,” Khan said.