Two armed suspects, believed to be Venezuelan immigrants, robbed an off-duty New York Police Department officer’s car on Friday night, according to a new report.
According to the source, New York Post At approximately 11:30pm on Friday, two armed men approached an off-duty NYPD officer at the intersection of West 146th Street and Bradhurst Avenue in Harlem. As the men approached a car, one of the suspects reportedly brandished a fully automatic handgun.
An off-duty NYPD officer was sitting in his 2020 BMW when the suspects allegedly opened the car door, slapped the officer’s gun out of his hand, and demanded the car keys.
The suspects stole an off-duty officer’s vehicle and fled the scene.
But the officer’s iPad was in the car at the time of the carjacking, and investigators used the device to locate the stolen vehicle, which had been abandoned within about a mile, officials said.
Authorities searched the area and found two suspects who allegedly had guns drawn when they confronted police.
According to the Washington Post, the two men did not have identification but claimed to be Jomar Crespo, 21, and Jose Rivera, 20, from Waterbury, Connecticut.
The suspects reportedly had tattoos that suggested they had ties to Venezuelan gangs.
Police recovered two guns.
The two suspects were charged with robbery, grand theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a machine gun, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of stolen property, modifying a firearm to fire multiple rounds and unlawful possession of an ammunition feeding device.
It is the second time this month that a New York Police Department officer has been attacked by a suspect believed to be a Venezuelan immigrant.
In the early morning hours of June 3, a suspect shot one NYPD officer in the chest and another in the leg in Queens after the officers attempted to stop the officer’s moped.
The shooting suspect, 19-year-old Bernardo Castro Mata, entered the U.S. illegally in July 2023 through the southern border at Eagle Pass, Texas. New York Post He was reportedly living at an immigrant shelter in East Elmhurst.
Castro Mata has been charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, both of which carry a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison.
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