Man gets 13 years in violent Long Island home invasion in which kids threatened

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — A 45-year-old man was sentenced to 13 years in prison for a 2023 violent armed home invasion on Long Island, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Wednesday.

According to the investigation, on April 8, 2023, Beresford Hall was armed with a handgun when he ran up to a man who was opening the front door of his Central Islip home.

Hall put the handgun in the victim’s face and pushed him into the home.

The man’s girlfriend, who was not home at the time, observed Hall forcibly entering the home through a doorbell notification on her cellular phone, and called 911.

Hall then forced the victim and his girlfriend’s 19-year-old and 16-year-old sons to lay on the floor face down, zip-tied their hands behind their backs and pistol-whipped the 16-year-old boy.

He then stole over $6,000, jewelry, a wallet and car keys, and threatened the other occupants of the home, including a 10-year-old and a 4-month-old baby, prosecutors said.

Upon realizing the home was surrounded by Suffolk County police, Hall cut the zip-ties off of the victims with a knife, and in doing so, cut their hands.

Hall then allowed all the victims to leave the house one by one before walking out of the home himself.

Police ordered Hall to place his hands behind his back, but he fled on foot before being apprehended by law enforcement.

On March 25, Hall pleaded guilty to burglary. He was was also sentenced to five years of post-release supervision.

At the time of this crime, Hall was indicted in Onondaga County for five counts of robbery, for allegedly holding up an auto parts store, two convenience stores, and a gas station in Syracuse.

Hall was also charged in Onondaga County with weapons possession after police allegedly found a loaded handgun while searching his home.

Those charges are still pending in Onondaga County.

“This defendant forcibly entered a home armed with a gun with multiple family members inside. Thanks to the victim’s girlfriend who saw the incident through the home’s doorbell video, she called the police who were able to apprehend the defendant before he could get away,” DA Tierney said. “This dangerous individual is now off of our streets thanks to the hard work of my prosecutors and members of the Suffolk County Police Department, including Police Officer Bryan Lawrence and K9 Officer Rafeh.”