Meet one of Torren de Aragua's “little devils”.
Law enforcement officials say a 15-year-old Venezuelan immigrant believed to be part of a violent youth gang terrorizing the city has been arrested at least 10 times this year.
But despite his long rap sheet, this teenage thug is allowed to continue roaming the streets and even stay in tax-funded shelters. .
“Politicians have reduced our criminal justice system to a paper tiger,” one disgruntled official said.
“There is no deterrent effect,” the official added. “There's a 15-year-old kid who continues to treat our city like it's his video game.”
According to reports, the teenager is part of Los Diablos, a group of about 20 young immigrants who carry out armed robberies around Times Square and other parts of the city, targeting locals and tourists alike. He is said to be a member of the group “De La 42'' (meaning “The Little Devil of 42nd Street'' in Spanish). sauce.
The young man crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas, in May 2023, according to federal immigration officials.
He was detained by border authorities along with his family but was eventually released pending immigration proceedings, with his first court hearing scheduled for next month, officials said.
It's unclear when the boy appeared in Manhattan, but he is believed to have joined the Diablos crew by May of this year, officials said, from the migrant shelter at the city-funded Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown. There is a shortage of crew members.
Officials say the boy was one of three young men who surrounded two straphangers on a train on the 7 train in Queens on May 28 and attacked them with brass knuckles and fists. be done. He was charged with first-degree robbery.
Less than a week later, on June 2, he was arrested again for first-degree robbery after robbing three people at knifepoint on Roosevelt Street in Queens, officials said.
On July 8, he was charged with second-degree robbery after allegedly snatching someone's cell phone in Central Park.
Later that month, on July 20, he was arrested in two separate incidents, one on East 60th Street, a block away from the park, where a group of about eight criminals were killed, according to sources. He used to beat people and steal their cell phones.
In another incident, he is accused of snatching a passenger's chain on the No. 4 train at Lexington Avenue and 59th Street, officials said.
On Aug. 9, he allegedly targeted the straphanger again, this time grabbing his cell phone and wallet on the F train in Midtown, officials said.
Later that month, on August 14, the boy and another young suspect allegedly pulled a knife on someone and robbed someone of a cell phone a block away from Times Square.
According to officials, on August 27 of the same month, he was arrested for the third time for stealing another person's chain near Penn Plaza in Midtown.
Sources say he was accused of stealing a 16-year-old boy's chain as recently as Sept. 2 at West 43rd Street and 12th Avenue.
Officials said at least one additional case against the boy has been sealed, but details about the other case are unclear because he is being charged as a juvenile.
Despite his alleged participation in a prolonged period of violence, the “little devil” remains free pending the outcome of his case, officials said.
Sources said he is believed to still be living somewhere in an immigrant shelter funded by city tax dollars.
“Diablo” is being recruited from within the shelter, primarily the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown, which serves as a reception center for the large number of migrants who have flooded into the city since 2022.
Scouted by adult Torren de Aragua members, newly anointed gangbangers are sent out to wreak havoc at the young age of 11, often receiving a slap on the wrist due to their age. there is.
In 2018, the state Legislature enacted an “age raise” law that raised the age of criminal responsibility to 18. Prior to this law, juveniles as young as 16 could be automatically charged as adults.
The following year, Albany's legislature began passing a series of criminal justice reforms that prohibited judges from setting bail for suspects in most crimes, except for a small number of violent felonies.
“The primary target of gang recruitment is young children,” a Department of Homeland Security official told The Post on Tuesday. “Their youth, changeable nature, vulnerability, and eagerness to please make them more easily seduced than those who are more mature in life.
“It's every young boy's eager desire to please a male father figure,” the source said. “They jump at the opportunity to feel involved in something that feels important.”
