What you should know
- One of the immigrants allegedly involved in the attack on two NYPD officers in Times Square and released without bail was arrested in connection with an alleged robbery Tuesday night at a Macy’s in Queens.
- Authorities said Darwin Andrés Gómez-Izquiel, 19, was part of a group that robbed the Queens Center Mall store in Elmhurst and attacked a security officer, several senior law enforcement officials said. He was charged with robbery and petit larceny.
- Law enforcement sources said surveillance images of a suspect with dyed blonde hair at Macy’s appear to match the image of the same man who allegedly participated in the Times Square attack on Jan. 27. Hours after the alleged robbery, officers saw Gómez-Izquiel at the Times Square subway entrance in West 41st Street y Seventh Avenuejust before midnight.
NEW YORK — One of the immigrants allegedly involved in the attack on two NYPD officers in Times Square and released without bail was arrested in connection with an alleged robbery Tuesday night at a Macy’s in Queens.
Authorities said Darwin Andrés Gómez-Izquiel, 19, was part of a group that robbed the Queens Center Mall store in Elmhurst and attacked a security officer, police said. He was charged with robbery and petit larceny.
Law enforcement sources said surveillance images of a suspect with dyed blonde hair at Macy’s appear to match the image of the same man who allegedly participated in the Times Square attack on Jan. 27.
According to the police report, the robbery occurred around 5:30 pm when four suspects, including a woman, entered the store in the shopping center and tried to steal several items from a bag. At that moment, the 27-year-old security agent tried to stop them and one of the suspects hit him in the face. In total, about $608 worth of clothing was taken and the victim suffered minor injuries.
Hours after the alleged robbery, officers saw Gómez-Izquiel at the Times Square subway entrance in West 41st Street y Seventh Avenuejust before midnight.
Police are still searching for the other three people, two men and a woman.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office faced criticism after four of the immigrants initially arrested and charged in the Times Square incident were released without bail, including Gómez-Izquiel.
Meanwhile, the only migrant who was being held on bond in connection with the Times Square attack bonded out Tuesday and was released, according to the Department of Corrections website and a top law enforcement official.
Yohenry Brito, a migrant from Venezuela, is charged with assault and is being held on $15,000 cash bail. It was not immediately clear who posted bail.
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office had no immediate comment.
Also on Tuesday, two other immigrants charged in the Times Square incident were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the morning in civil immigration holds, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the case.
Police originally claimed that the two, Wilson Juárez and Kelvin Servita Arocha, fled on a bus to California with the other immigrants who were released. It was a statement that sparked a national outcry over District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s decision to release them without bail after the alleged attack on the officers.
A closer review of the video showed that the couple was present but did not strike any of the officers, according to Bragg.
Izquiel, the man now wanted for questioning in the Macy’s robbery, was also said to be on that bus out of town. The defendants are scheduled to return to court on February 16.
This while another unnamed 17-year-old suspect in the Times Square brawl was arrested Tuesday morning in the Bronx. Prosecutors charged him last week but did not name him in the indictment.
Three top officials say that when police executed the arrest warrant in the Bronx on Tuesday morning, officers found Juarez and Arocha in the same apartment.
In total, 11 people are believed to have participated in the attack on the officers.
2024-02-14 14:52:54
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