Friday, July 15, 2005

TWO CHARGED WITH STEALING OVER $3,000 IN PURSE SNATCHES AT CEMETERIES, GAS STATION AND FAST FOOD RESTAURANT; FACE UP TO SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that two Queens men have been charged with stealing over $3,000 in a series of purse snatches that victimized four women in two cemeteries, a gas station and a fast food restaurant.

District Attorney Brown said, “The defendants are alleged to have preyed on vulnerable and unwary women, to have stolen their purses from their vehicles and to have used the stolen credit cards to make numerous fraudulent purchases at various stores totaling over $3,000. Babies-R-Us and Modell’s management told one of the victims that a total of $725 in purchases had been made on her credit card that she did not authorize. Fortunately, New York City Police Department detectives apprehended the defendants and stopped them before they could damage the credit and reputations of others.”

District Attorney Brown identified the defendants as Roberto Melchor, 37, and Carlos Carpio, 27, both of 105-30 Otis Avenue in Corona, Queens, construction workers. The defendants have been charged with Identity Theft in the First and Second Degree, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree, Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree and Unlawful Possession of Personal Identification Information in the Third Degree. They face up to seven years in prison if convicted.

The District Attorney said New York City Police Department Organized Theft Squad detectives were notified in April about a series of purse thefts which appeared to be organized and began a joint investigation with detectives in the 104 Precinct Detective Squad and the District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Bureau.

District Attorney Brown said that according to complaints filed in Queens Criminal Court the alleged thefts took place between April 8th and July 13th 2005 in four separate incidents involving female victims aged 23 to 75.

It is alleged that the defendants on April 8, 2005 took a purse belonging to a 75-year-old Corona, Queens woman from her while she was seated in the Boston Market Restaurant at 171-48 Northern Boulevard in Flushing.

It is alleged that the defendants on May 19, 2005 took a purse belonging to a 59-year-old Flushing, Queens woman from inside a vehicle that was parked at Cypress Hills Cemetery at 833 Jamaica Avenue in Brooklyn.

It is alleged that defendant Melchor on June 1, 2005 took a purse belonging to a 35-year-old woman from Fresh Meadows, Queens from inside a vehicle at a Exxon Mobile gas station at 76-11 Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, Queens.

It is alleged that the defendants on July 13, 2005 took a purse belonging to a 23-year-old Bronx woman from inside a vehicle that was parked at Saint Raymond’s Cemetery at 2600 Lafayette Avenue in the Bronx.

It is also alleged that after each theft, the defendants would pick up a female who could pose as the credit card holder and went on shopping sprees in Long Island City and College Point.

The defendants were arraigned earlier today in Queens Criminal Court on the charges of the cemeteries and Boston Market thefts before Judge Joseph A. Zayas who set bail of $75,000 for each defendant and set a return date of August 3, 2005. Defendant Melchor was arraigned on the charges relating to the gas station incident on June 2, 2005 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Lenora Gerald who released him on his own recognizance and set a return date of August 2, 2005.

The case was investigated by Detective Denis P. Broderick of the New York City Police Department’s 104th Precinct Detective Squad and Detectives David Hoey and Mirtha Cruz of the NYPD’s Organized Theft Squad under the supervision of Sergeant Scott Guginsky. The store managers of Babies-R-Us and Modell’s and investigators from Citibank and American Express assisted in the investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Diane M. Peress, Deputy Chief, with the assistance of Phylesia A. Lang, Investigative Auditor of the District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Bureau under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Gregory C. Pavlides, Bureau Chief, and assisted by Assistant District Attorney Karen J. Friedman, Deputy Chief, of the District Attorney’s Narcotics Investigation Bureau under the supervision of Wilbert J. LeMelle, Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.

It should be noted that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation and that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.