The long arm of the law has finally caught up with four men allegedly involved in a series of armed robberies across the borough.
According to police, four men were arrested in connection with the Thursday, August 27 armed robbery of a Rite Aid located at 1710 Crosby Avenue which saw $2,703 worth of property stolen.
A NYPD spokeswoman said the suspects, Cameron Green, 21 and Anthony Green, 18 of 949 E. 214th Street and Anil Mangar, 23, of 645 E. 231st Street, all three residing in the Bronx; and Lennox Josephs, 22, of 338 4th Avenue, Mt. Vernon were arrested recently and charged with robbery in the 2nd degree.
According to a United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York spokesman, the defendants Green, Josephs and Green acknowledged the robberies before the Honorable Gabriel Gorenstein, United States Magistrate Judge Southern District of New York.
On August 31, police officers arrested Mangar, a co-conspirator, for using a stolen credit card.
He informed law enforcement that he had participated in ten robberies with a crew consisting of Green, Josephs and Green over a six week period, according to USAOSDNY.
The spokesman confirmed that police stopped and searched a vehicle driven by Mangar on Friday, September 4 at 1250 Waters Place, in which agents seized two backpacks, each containing pellet guns closely resembling handguns, gloves and a facemask and a third backpack containing gloves and a bandanna.
Police also learned that the crew was planning to rob a Pelham Bay 7-11 convenience store.
The USAOSDNY spokesman added the defendants are facing several charges for their alleged involvement in a series of robberies which occurred between Wednesday, August 12 and Thursday, September 3 including:
• a Thursday, August 20 armed robbery stealing a victim’s wallet containing a credit card which was used at approximately 5:45 a.m. that same night by a co-conspirator to purchase three cartons of cigarettes from a Rite Aid at 901 E. Gun Hill Road;
• the August 12 robbery of a Chinese restaurant delivery worker at 4359 Gunther Avenue who was chased and assaulted before having his iPhone and $100 stolen;• an August 18 robbery of a taxi driver who was directed to drive the suspect to 946 Tilden Street where two individuals armed with firearms approached the vehicle and stole $110 in fare proceeds and the driver’s cell phone;
• the August 20 robbery of a 32-year old livery cab driver at 3:45 a.m. near 4617 Matilda Avenue in which two masked men approached the victim from behind and stole $27 in cash and a LG cell phone before fleeing eastbound on E. 241st Street;
• an August 22 robbery at 3:30 a.m. in which approximately $1,300 from a BP Gas Station located at 3276 Jerome Avenue;
• the August 27 at 3:10 a.m. robbery involving four masked men wearing gloves stealing about $1,000, New York State lottery tickets and cartons of cigarettes from a 1928 Bruckner Boulevard Shell Gas Station and the previously reported Thursday;
• August 27 armed robbery of a 24-hour Rite Aid located at 1710 Crosby Avenue in which four men entered at 3:10 a.m. and stole $150, five cartons of Newport cigarettes and cell phones from a Rite Aid employee and customer before fleeing, he said.
“I want to thank the Robbery Squad for making these arrests and doing their due diligence in putting these pieces together without any further people getting hurt or killed,” said John Marano, a community partner with the NYPD. “I would also like to thank the 45th Precinct patrol, Detective Maldonado and the 45th Precinct PDU for initialing the investigation and working closely with the Bronx Robbery Unit.”
