Two Venezuelan immigrant serial criminals attacked NYPD officers as they tried to stop their gang from looting a Target store, according to officials.
Yusneiby Machado, 23, and Brayan Freites, 21, are among six immigrants accused of trying to steal $82 worth of items from an Upper East Side store on April 2, the New York Post.
The group allegedly took a play light, tools, a backpack and snacks, including Doritos, Fruit Loops and water bottles.
When police attempted to detain the crew, Machado and Freitas allegedly struggled and shoved officers in an attempt to resist arrest.
A third suspect who has not been captured allegedly attempted to throw rocks at officers, but did not hit any of them.
Yusneiby Machado, 23, and Brayan Freites, 21, are among six immigrants accused of trying to steal $82 worth of items from an Upper East Side store on April 2.
Cops told the Post that one officer was left with “swelling, redness and pain in his left arm.”
The officer was reportedly taken to the hospital, treated and released.
Machado and Freites, who have history with police, are charged with robbery, assault, resisting arrest, obstruction of government administration, criminal possession of stolen property, disorderly conduct and harassment.
But Machado was released without bail by Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Jay Wiener, despite prosecutors’ request that she be set on $10,000 bail.
Wiener ordered Freites held on bail of $3,000 or $9,000.
The couple’s alleged accomplices are Sebastián Jaramillo, 22 years old, Michael Sánchez, 31 years old, and Henry Zambrano, 19 years old.
All are charged with robbery and disorderly conduct and were released without bail.
Sources told The Post that all three suspects live at the Ward’s Island shelter.
New York City Police Department Commissioner Edward Caban appeared on NBC News NOW’s Top Story with Tom Llamas on Tuesday to discuss the wave of unprovoked violence in the city.
Caban said crime is trending downward in the city, but not fast enough, because of repeat offenders.
“We’re seeing the same people being jailed over and over again,” he said, adding that bail reform laws have been ineffective.
“We lock someone up and the district attorney sets bail, the judges allow them to walk our streets again… it’s a broken system,” the police officer added.
While crime declined overall in the first quarter of 2024, a series of highly publicized events have caused New Yorkers to question the data.
Earlier this year, a video showing a group of immigrants fighting with police in Times Square sparked a political furor. It also renewed debate over a long-standing New York City policy that limits cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities: so-called sanctuary city rules.
Earlier this year, a video showing a group of immigrants fighting with police in Times Square sparked a political furor and renewed debate over a long-standing New York City policy that limits cooperation between local police. and federal immigration authorities.
Surveillance footage, recorded on Jan. 27 outside a homeless shelter in Manhattan, shows several men kicking officers on a sidewalk and trying to push them away from a man who police had tackled to the ground.
No one was seriously injured, but video of officers being beaten sparked waves of public outrage. Some of that fury has been directed at prosecutors and the judicial system after several of those arrested were released from jail while awaiting trial.
Increasingly, New York City officials have directed dire rhetoric at the tens of thousands of asylum seekers the city has housed in shelters and hotels over the past year. Some of the comments have dismayed immigration advocates, who say they are stirring up hate for the actions of a few bad apples.
“A wave of immigration crime has invaded our city,” Police Commissioner Edward Caban said at a news conference about a Venezuelan man wanted in a series of cell phone thefts.
Adams has observed that the vast majority of the nearly 175,000 immigrants who have come to the city respect the law. She said it would be a mistake for “any New Yorker to consider people trying to take the next step toward the American dream as criminals.”
But in recent days, Adams has also shown a willingness to withdraw a set of laws that often prevent the city from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
“We need to change the sanctuary city law that if you commit a serious crime or a violent act we should be able to turn you over to ICE and deport you,” he said at a town hall meeting in February.