A 15-year-old Venezuelan immigrant who has been arrested at least 10 times in the past few months and is believed to be part of a violent youth gang has been arrested again this week on suspicion of robbery at knifepoint, sources said Wednesday.
The teen in question, identified by officials as a member of Los Diablos de la 42, a diminutive splinter of the violent Venezuelan gang Torren de Aragua, just as the Post reported was handcuffed on Tuesday just as he was revealing the shocking exploits of the bandits. .
Officials say the suspect and a friend are accused of holding a 34-year-old man at knifepoint on September 30 at 9th Avenue and West 35th Street around 7 p.m.
Officials said the boy and his friend slammed the victim against a pillar, pointed a knife at him and demanded he turn over his cell phone.
The man was able to escape safely.
Officials said video from the scene led police to identify the robbery suspect and arrest him at 59th Street and Columbus Avenue.
“Little Devil” was awaiting arraignment on new charges, but sources said he was likely to be released again because of his young age and the country's lenient attitude toward juvenile offenders.
“This should be a wake-up call to all stakeholders,” one law enforcement official said Wednesday. “To the state legislatures who have to decide how to deal with this issue.
“This kid is going to go home today and probably rob someone else,” the source said. “You can arrest him, but you can't detain him.”
The young man, whose name is being withheld due to his age, was released across the U.S. border in Texas with his family in May 2023 and has an immigration hearing scheduled for next month, sources said. states.
Since May, he has become known in the Big Apple and has been arrested at least 10 times for robbery and grand theft, officials said.
Officials said he was released each time, meaning he was free to return to the migrant shelter where the city had previously funded and built cabins.
Officials said the boy had posted threatening photos on his social media pages, including one on Facebook in which he pretended to hold a handgun with his fingers.
Police said he called himself “Diablos de la 42” (Spanish for the Devil of 42nd Street) and was a group of about 20 young immigrants operating out of the city's shelter at the Roosevelt Hotel. One of them.
The young people are scouted by older members of Torren de Aragua and sent to solve robberies in the five boroughs, ranging from purse snatching to, more recently, armed robberies.
New York City's immigrant “sanctuary” prohibits police officers from entering the facility unless they have a warrant or respond to a 911 call, leading to gang activity in the tax-funded facility. officials said.
