A group of illegal immigrants who were arrested and released after allegedly robbing a New York City store and assaulting police officers has finally been picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for “removal proceedings,” officials said.
Venezuelan nationals Michael Jose Sanchez Mayo, 31; Henry Omar Zambrano Zapata, 19; and Yusneibi Yohana Machado Avila, 23, and Colombian national Sebastian Jaramillio Balanta, 22, were arrested on Wednesday, about a week after police say they robbed an Upper East Side Target, Fox News reports.
“All four unlawfully present noncitizens were arrested without incident due to the violation of their DHS release conditions and are in custody pending removal proceedings,” an ICE representative told the outlet.
The agency also placed a detainer request on 21-year-old Brayan Freites-Macias, also from Venezuela, who was the only member of the group that Rikers Island held after the incident.
Brayan Freites-Macias (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
A criminal complaint — viewed by Fox News — accuses Freites-Macias of shoving a New York City police officer who was attempting to arrest him, then directing Machado Avila to flee the store.
Machado Avila then allegedly “placed herself in between Freites-Macias and the police officer before striking the officer in the head with her hand,” the report states.
A sixth suspect who has yet to be found then threw rocks at multiple officers as the scuffle spilled outside, the complaint said. The rocks missed.
One of the cops was reportedly treated for “substantial pain” and a sprained wrist at the hospital.
According to the New York Post, “Both Machado and Freites were charged with robbery, assault, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, criminal possession of stolen property, disorderly conduct and harassment.”
The outlet likened their treatment by the Manhattan court system to being handled “with kid gloves,” detailing how Machado Avila was “cut loose without bail under supervised release, despite a request from prosecutors that she be held on $10,000 bail.”
Freites-Macias remained at Rikers Island on a $3,000 bail.
The other three suspects were all charged with robbery and disorderly conduct.
Freites-Macias has had multiple run-ins with the law, having been charged with trespassing for refusing to leave a migrant shelter in January and for shoplifting in December.
Machado Avila also found herself in trouble on January 18 for trespassing in a shelter and was charged with assaulting a woman during an “argument” on the street in March, the Post reported.
Jaramillio Balanta was previously charged with assault when he allegedly punched a man in the face at the Grand Central Terminal in October. He was arrested for petit theft in November and grand larceny in March.
Sanchez Mayo has “three separate petit larceny arrests and two separate robbery charges” of his own, Fox News reported.
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