One of the migrants allegedly involved in the attack on two NYPD officers in Times Square and released without bail was arrested in connection with an alleged robbery Tuesday evening at a Macy's in Queens.
Police said Darwin Gomez-Izquiel was part of a group who stole from the store at the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst and attacked a security officer, several senior law enforcement officials said.
Police sources said video surveillance footage of a suspect with dyed blonde hair at Macy’s appeared to match the image of the same man who allegedly took part in the Times Square attack on Jan. 27. Hours after the alleged robbery, officers spotted Gomez-Izquiel at the Times Square subway entrance at West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue just before midnight.
NYPD officials said the group of suspects tried to steal items and punched and kicked a loss prevention officer who attempted to stop them. The suspects then fled, running off with just over $600 worth of clothing.
Gomez-Izquiel was charged with robbery and petit larceny. Attorney information for the 19-year-old was not immediately clear. Police are still looking for three others — two men and a woman — involved in the incident.
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The Manhattan district attorney’s office faced criticism after four of the migrants initially arrested and charged in the Times Square incident were released with no bail, including Gomez-Izquiel.
Meanwhile, the only migrant who was being held on bail in connection with the Times Square melee made bail on Tuesday and was released, according to the Department of Correction website and a senior law enforcement official.
Yohenry Brito, a migrant from Venezuela, is charged with assault and was being held on $15,000 cash bail. It was not immediately clear who posted the bail.
A spokesperson for the DA’s office did not have immediate comment.
Also on Tuesday, two other migrants charged in the Times Square incident were picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the morning on civil immigration holds, according to two law enforcement officers familiar with the case.
Police originally claimed the two, Wilson Juarez and Kelvin Servita Arocha, fled on a bus to California with the other migrants who were released. It was a claim that sparked a national outcry over DA Alvin Bragg’s decision to free them without seeking bail after the alleged attack on officers.
A closer review of the video showed the pair were present but did not strike any of the officers, according to Bragg.
Izquiel, the man now wanted for questioning in the Macy’s robbery, was also said to be on that bus out of town. The defendants are scheduled to return to court on Feb. 16.
This as another unnamed suspect in the Times Square brawl was arrested Tuesday morning in the Bronx. Prosecutors charged him last week but did not name him in the indictment. It is not clear whether he is under the age the of 18.
Three senior officials says when police executed the warrant for Tuesday morning’s Bronx arrest, officers found Juarez and Arocha in the same apartment.
In all, 11 people are believed to have played a role in the attack on the officers.
