NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – One of the migrant men who was charged and released without bail in last month’s attack on two NYPD officers in Times Square is back behind bars—accused of taking part in a violent robbery at a Macy’s department store in Queens on Tuesday.
Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19, was allegedly among four people—three men and one woman—who shoplifted more than $600 worth of clothing from the Macy’s at the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst on Tuesday evening.
Police said the group removed the merchandise around 5:30 p.m. and concealed it in a bag before attempting to walk out of the store.
When a 27-year-old loss prevention officer confronted them, they got into a struggle with the guard, and one of them punched him in the face, according to police.
The four suspects fled on Queens Boulevard with $608 worth of stolen clothing, but police managed to use surveillance video to track down Gomez-Izquiel to the Times Square area Tuesday night. He was charged with robbery and petit larceny in the latest crime.
The security guard suffered minor injuries and declined further medical attention at the scene.
Gomez-Izquiel is the same man accused of grabbing one officer and kicking another in the caught-on-camera mob attack outside a migrant shelter on West 42nd Street on the night of Jan. 27.
He was charged with assault in the second degree and obstructing governmental administration before he was released without bail.
At least six other men have been arrested in the Times Square attack, in which a lieutenant and an officer were pummeled and stomped on. They were all released without bail except for Yohenry Brito, 24, who has been held at Rikers Island and is accused of being “at the center” of the assault.
The latest arrest was a 17-year-old migrant boy, who was nabbed by federal agents in the Bronx on Tuesday. He was charged with assault, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.