a man from New York City is accused of recruiting younger siblings for a robbery ring
According to police reports, a man from Staten Island was arrested for being a “Fagin,” who coerced his two younger brothers, aged 11 and 13, to steal from bars and restaurants in Manhattan. The police are also currently on the lookout for two other adult handlers who are operating similar scams based on the character “Oliver Twist” from the famous novel.
On Monday, Micquel Robinson was taken into custody for breaking into three bars and restaurants in Lower Manhattan. This comes after The Post published an exclusive front-page story on Sunday about the alarming trend of burglaries happening throughout the city.
During the investigation, Robinson, a 20-year-old, admitted to his involvement in the burglaries and shared his past experiences of coming to the place to hustle with his brothers. He even identified himself in the surveillance footage of one of the burglaries that took place on April 15 at Rosie’s Mexican restaurant located on East 2nd Street.
According to court documents, the 11-year-old was captured on video entering the restaurant while his older brother remained outside.
According to records, the youngster proceeded to enter a secluded room located in the basement. Once inside, he retrieved a wallet and extracted a credit card. He then handed it over to his elder sibling who was waiting outside.
Robinson shared that after the customers exited the restaurant, he would inquire about their earnings and ask for the amount they received. “When they come back out of the restaurant, I would ask how much they would get, how much money they made,” said Robinson.
According to court documents, Robinson was charged with a series of offenses including burglary, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, endangering the welfare of a child, and arson.
The charges against him were not eligible for bail, so he was released on his own recognizance without delay.
“This is the new New York,” a law enforcement source lamented. “This is it now. The bail laws aren’t going to change.”
A legal directive was issued to ensure the safety of the child, forbidding the older brother from coming into contact with them.
According to Francine Jones, the mother of the children, her oldest son was not giving orders to his younger siblings.
Jones, who is 40 years old, expressed her belief that her children are engaging in those activities on their own accord. According to her, there is no external influence prompting them to do so.
According to her, her children were accompanied by other relatives and left to their own devices in the city.
As someone who has seven children, Jones knows firsthand the dangers of letting small children run around by themselves. “That’s what it is,” he emphasized, underscoring the importance of keeping a watchful eye on young kids.
According to her, the boys were being punished and their only permitted activity was attending school.
According to reports from The Post, business owners have been experiencing incidents that began over a year ago. The culprit behind these incidents seems to be young individuals who approach the establishments requesting money for sports teams. However, these individuals go on to commit thefts from purses, workers, and even open safes.
As one of the targeted establishments, a manager at the Lexington Publick on the Upper East Side likened the recent burglaries to a contemporary version of the classic tale, “Oliver Twist.” Owner Jacob Rabinowitz’s numerous bars have been affected by these incidents over the last few months.
According to law enforcement officials, some of the small-scale fraudsters begin their schemes by posing as individuals seeking donations for sports teams. They persuade their victims to hand over their phones for assistance with payment applications. Once they have access to the apps, they proceed to withdraw money without authorization.
Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny explained that in cases where there isn’t much money in the account, thieves may simply take the phone and flee. However, if there is a substantial amount of money in the account, individuals may unknowingly end up donating thousands of dollars to a basketball team instead of the intended $5.
According to Kenny, bars and restaurants are the preferred hunting grounds of these creatures.
According to Kenny, when a bar doesn’t have enough customers, some of them start walking around and even ask to use the restroom. This is when they take advantage and begin to steal whatever they can find in the office areas.
According to Kenny, there is an instance where a family from New Jersey reportedly had their children pretend to be associated with a sports organization in order to scam money out of people.
Authorities are currently searching for the individuals in question.
Authorities are currently searching for the individuals in charge of the criminal activity that has been affecting the bars and restaurants located in the Upper West Side and Upper East Side. This includes the children involved in these illegal actions as well as their adult handlers.
Recently, Charles Milite, the proprietor of Flats Fix taqueria located in Union Square, shared new footage with The Post. The video shows a young child entering the restaurant on March 6th with the apparent intention of stealing $1,000. Milite believes that the child may have been used by someone else to commit the crime.
According to Milite, he was of the opinion that the child who stole from the uptown bars was the same one.
According to him, the group of children has been frequenting his restaurant for more than a year now and he has noticed that there is always a man standing outside.
While riding the subway, he caught a glimpse of them together.
As he recounted the incident, he mentioned that he had witnessed the man shouting and using foul language towards them. It was at that moment when everything clicked, and he finally understood the situation as a whole.
According to the law enforcement source, it is regrettable that some adults are resorting to using children as mere “pawns” in their schemes.
According to an anonymous source, the kids involved in the incident cannot be blamed as it is a result of their upbringing. The source expressed sadness over the situation, acknowledging the impact of a difficult upbringing on a person’s actions.
