Venezuelan Migrants Carjack Off-Duty Officer, Wielding Fully Automatic Pistol

In a disconcerting turn of events last Friday night, an off-duty officer of the New York Police Department fell prey to a carjacking. The alleged perpetrators, two armed men believed to be Venezuelan migrants, ambushed the officer around 11:30 p.m. near West 146 Street and Bradhurst Avenue in Harlem, as detailed in a recent New York Post report.

One of the assailants allegedly flaunted a fully automatic pistol during the incident. The unsuspecting off-duty officer, who was in his 2020 BMW at that time, was taken by surprise when the suspects purportedly forced open the car door.

The assailants knocked a firearm out of the officer’s hands, demanded the keys, and successfully managed to make off with the vehicle. The officer’s iPad, which was inside the car at the time, later played a crucial role in locating the stolen vehicle.

The iPad enabled investigators to trace the stolen car, which was found abandoned less than a mile away from the crime scene. This led authorities to the immediate vicinity where the two suspects were found – their guns still drawn.

Upon their arrest, the suspects failed to produce any identification but claimed their names were Jomar Crespo, 21, and Jose Rivera, 20, hailing from Waterbury, Connecticut. A noteworthy detail from the New York Post’s report was that these men bore tattoos associated with a Venezuelan gang.

Both Crespo and Rivera now face charges of robbery, grand theft auto, possession of a machine gun, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of stolen property, making rapid-fire modifications to a gun, and unlawful possession of ammunition feeding devices.

In a concerning pattern, this was the second case this month in which NYPD officers have been targeted by individuals speculated to be Venezuelan migrants. A similar incident transpired on June 3, when an NYPD officer was shot in the chest and another in the leg in Queens.

The shooting perpetrator was identified as 19-year-old Bernardo Castro Mata, who had reportedly entered the U.S. illegally via the southern border of Eagle Pass, Texas back in July 2023. Castro Mata, who had been living in a migrant shelter in East Elmhurst, was charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and could face up to 80 years in prison.

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