Small business owners across Long Island and their employees are breathing a sigh of relief after a suspected knifepoint serial robber was taken into custody Monday.

Shane Cashmore, 30, told reporters that he was a heroin addict before being charged with 18 counts of robbery.

Jawad Kahn was one of the robber's many victims.

"My colleague told me he's in jail now, so we are happy," he told News 12.

Police say two of Cashmore's accomplices, Julianna Pantaleone and Paul Drab, were also arrested. They say Pantaleone was trying to shoot herself up with heroin as she was being taken in custody.

"The reality is that there are hundreds of people on Long Island struggling with addiction, and for many of these people, every day means using 10 to 15 bags of heroin and finding some way to finance that habit," says Jeff Reynolds, the executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

Reynolds says while getting this alleged robber and self-proclaimed heroin addict off the streets is a good thing, he warns "there are dozens of people who could take his place tomorrow."