Hours after an early morning raid took place on Monday, Feb. 5, on an apartment at the NYCHA Parkside Housing Project in Allerton, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Edward Caban joined other members of the NYPD at a joint press conference held at NYPD headquarters at One Police Plaza to announce that nine people had been charged in the context of an elaborate cellphone robbery pattern with international criminal links.

 

Police said nine people were charged with 62 robberies that were part of an identified citywide robbery pattern (NYPD #156) spanning all City boroughs, except Staten Island. They said many of the robberies were orchestrated iPhone hit jobs carried out on scooters, and that the alleged ringleader was Victor Parra, 30, of Venezuela who lived at Parkside Housing Project, located between White Plains Road and Bronx Park East.

 

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said, “During our investigation, we learned that these perpetrators are part of a sophisticated criminal enterprise made up of migrants who have recently arrived in the United States. This network of these… predominantly live in the migrant shelter system.”

 

He added, “They use social media platforms to organize and coordinate their thefts. This is how they operate. The leader of the crew, identified as Victor Parra, will blast out a message via WhatsApp that he is looking for phones. Parra will send out specific orders for what type of phone he is looking for, and then the text will say, ‘I have money, I’m available, go get ’em’.”

 

The mayor and police commissioner stressed that although at least five of the men charged were migrants, they did not represent most migrants entering New York City. “In recent months, a wave of migrant crime has washed over our city, but by no means do the individuals committing these crimes represent the vast number of people coming to New York to build a better life,” Caban said.

 

Soon after the Bronx raid was carried out on Monday morning, NYPD Assistant Police Commissioner Kaz Daughtry posted on X, formerly Twitter, “Most migrants come to NYC in search of a better life. Sadly, some come to commit crimes.” He went on to say that while the rest of the city was sleeping, the mayor joined NYPD investigators & specialized teams in The Bronx as they executed the arrest warrant and carried out the surprise early morning Allerton raid.

 

“Today, we made tremendous progress in the largest robbery pattern plaguing our city,” Daughtry said. “Our message is simple – commit a crime in our city and we will find you and bring you to justice!”

 

Later that day, at the joint press conference, Adams told reporters he attended the 5.30 a.m. Bronx raid, “because I’m the general, and generals lead from the front.” He continued, “From the onset, we want to be extremely clear. It doesn’t matter if a person is a migrant, asylum seeker, or if the person is a long‑term New Yorker. You break the law, it will be investigated, and it will be handled by our criminal justice system.”

 

The mayor went on to say that the NYPD’s job was apprehensions. “The prosecutor has a job to prosecute, and the federal government has a job to determine if a person is here as a migrant / asylum seeker.” Adams said those found guilty of crimes should do their time and, if undocumented, be deported.

 

In recent months, the NYPD’s 50^th Precinct, which covers some or all of the neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Fieldston, Riverdale, Marble Hill, and Spuyten Duyvil, as well as Van Cortlandt Park, had been warning residents of a “robbery pattern” in and around Van Cortlandt Park. Cops had recommended walking in pairs and being aware of one’s surroundings.

 

Norwood News had reported on several Bronx iPhone robberies carried out by scooter riders over the last year. Click here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here for details. Police said over half of the 62 robberies linked to the scam were carried out in Manhattan.

Adams said these 62 likely occurred on the transit system, using mopeds, scooters, and by snatching property like iPhones and wallets. The mayor warned, “The law is coming for those who use mopeds illegally,” and noted that the NYPD confiscated over 2,500 illegal mopeds and scooters in 2023, an increase of 74% from 2022. Norwood News has previously reported on some of these confiscation efforts in The Bronx.

 

Pointing to the similarities between so-called “ghost cars,” where fake plates are purchased, often online, and so-called “ghost guns” which are purchased as component parts and assembled at home on a 3-D printer, Caban said, “They’re essentially ghost criminals; no criminal history, no photos, no cell phone, no social media. They intentionally try to evade the police.”

 

Meanwhile, Kenny said of the scooter robberies, “These thieves would ride up behind their victims on the sidewalk, steal their property, and then make their getaway.” Kenny added that most of the victims were women.

 

Police said a hired scooter rider would earn $100 a day as part of the for-hire robbery pattern while “phone snatchers” could earn between $300 to $600 per phone. They said stolen phones were delivered to Parra, the alleged ringleader, who had been living at 2970 Bronx Park East (Parkside Housing Project) since April 2023.

 

Police said the phones would later be used to access a victim’s financial records and banking apps to make fraudulent purchases in the United States and in South America. They said the phones would then be shipped to Columbia to be reprogramed.

 

According to Kenny, police arrested five people at Parra’s home, recovered 22 stolen phones there, and are searching for six more people linked to the scheme. Kenny added that since Jan. 1, the NYPD has had 32 open robbery patterns identified involving 147 individual crimes. They said it is not yet known if the current arrests in relation to the 62 robberies are linked to any of the other open robbery patterns identified. Police said Parra’s operation netted hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The following were arrested and charged with grand larceny: Yan Jimenez, 25, Manhattan; Anthony Ramos, 21, Manhattan; Richard Saledo, 21, Allerton Avenue, The Bronx; Beike Jimenez, 21, Allerton Avenue, The Bronx; Maria Manaura, 32, Manhattan; Cleyber Andrade, 20, Brooklyn, and Juan Uzcatgui, 23, Manhattan. Police noted that some of the individuals named had been arrested prior to Monday’s raid.

 

The Bronx District Attorney’s office also announced the arrest of Alexander Dayker, 20, and Roxanna Sahos, 24, arrested during the Bronx Park East raid on Feb. 5, and said both were charged with possession of stolen property and tampering with evidence.

 

Police continue to hunt for Parra, who they said was not home when they carried out the raid, as well as seven additional people. The NYPD said they have not, for now, tied the latest scooter-related robbery pattern to three other similar robbery sprees that have been identified in the 44^th, 46^th and 50^th Precincts.

 

Norwood News recently photographed two separate incidents where it appeared an NYPD unit was stopping a scooter rider. The first was at Sedgwick Avenue and Hillman Avenue in Van Cortlandt Village on Saturday, Dec. 16, and the second at Van Cortlandt Avenue West at Orloff Avenue also in Van Cortlandt Village, on Jan. 15.

 

When contacted by Norwood News at the time for more information on these incidents, the NYPD press office said they had no details based on the information provided to them.

 

On the same day, as reported, in an unrelated case, federal prosecutors announced that 70 current and former NYCHA employees, including eight from The Bronx, were charged in a bribery / extortion case, the largest such case in a single day in U.S. Department of Justice history, for allegedly accepting cash payments from contractors in exchange for awarding NYCHA contracts at various NYCHA locations across the City.

 

Among the affected NYCHA complexes located in the north Bronx, according to federal officials, were Gun Hill Houses, Eastchester Gardens, Boston Road Plaza, Pelham Parkway, Twin Parks West, Twin Parks East, and 1010 East 178th Street. They also included Marble Hill. Federal officials said cash payments were accepted on site at these and other NYCHA locations.

After hearing of the raid and arrests, Louise Salant of Amalgamated Housing Corporation, a Van Cortlandt Village co-op, said, “Arresting migrants for criminal activity is meaningless if they’re then released without bail.” When asked if she felt safer knowing some arrests had been made, she said, “No, I don’t feel any safer. Actually, every arrest [that results in] an almost immediate release only encourages more criminals.”

 

As reported, Parkside Houses received a $3 million investment to improve security in September 2014. Residents had made repeated complaints about the lack of security in the complex.

 

Those arrested are deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.