Four migrants in NYC target robbery that left cop injured face likely deportation after being picked up by ICE
Four of the migrants arrested for robbing a Manhattan Target — then fighting the cops who tried to step in — were collared Wednesday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and will likely be deported, according to the federal agency.
ICE also lodged a detainer with the city’s Department of Correction for the still-jailed fifth suspect, Brayan Freites-Macias of Venezuela, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
Freites-Macias, 21, is an illegal immigrant who is “amenable to removal from the United States,” the statement said.
He was the only one of the five suspects to be ordered held on bail after cops arrested them for shoplifting from an Upper East Side Target on April 2, according to court records and law enforcement sources.
The other four — Michael Jose Sanchez Mayo, 31, of Venezuela; Henry Omar Zambrano Zapata, 19, of Venezuela; Sebastian Jaramillio Balanta, 22, of Colombia; and Yusneibi Yohana Machado Avila, 23, of Venezuela — were released without bail by the same Manhattan judge.
The four were also here illegally and were arrested “without incident” Wednesday, ICE said.
They are in-custody pending removal proceedings, according to the statement.
The crew allegedly stole $82 worth of display items from the store on Third Avenue near East 70th Street at about 7 p.m. that day, including a backpack, a gaming light, tools and assorted cereals, chips, fruit and bottled water, sources and the criminal complaint said.
Cops from the NYPD’s 19th Precinct tried to stop them. But two of the suspects — Machado Avila and Freites-Macias — allegedly wrestled, shoved, slapped and pushed the officers in their attempts to get away, sources said.
The wild struggle left one officer with swelling, redness and pain on his left arm, cops said. He was treated at a hospital, then released.
Another suspect — who has not been caught — tried to throw rocks at the officers, but they were not struck, sources said.
Both Machado Avila and Freites-Macias were charged with robbery, assault, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, criminal possession of stolen property, disorderly conduct and harassment, cops said.
But Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Jay Wiener cut Machado Avila loose without bail, and remanded Freites-Macias on $3,000 bail or a $9,000 bond.
This, despite their lengthy rap sheets that include trespassing, shoplifting, assault, petit theft and grand larceny, according to sources and court records.
The rest were charged with robbery and disorderly conduct, cops said.
All three — who lived at the Ward’s Island shelter, per sources — were later arraigned on petit larceny and possession of stolen property charges and released without bail.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban has said the city’s violent crime wave might inspire fear in locals, but added that it was a case of “perception versus reality.”
He also told NBC that, “Right now, we do have some pockets of migrant crime.”
“The NYPD understands that people come to New York City to build a better life for themselves and their families,” Caban. “They, themselves, are the American dream.”
“But having said that, if you commit a crime in New York City, if you break the law, we will hold you accountable.”
