Police arrested two men in New York City after allegedly impersonating NYPD officers and using the disguise to rob a Manhattan jewelry store.
Ismael Igartua and Jose Rodriguez were charged with robbery, conspiracy, brandishing a firearm and felony possession of a firearm, according to a statement issued by an attorney for the Southern District of New York on Monday.
“The defendants’ alleged scheme — impersonating NYPD officers and asking to check the victim’s firearm due to recent incidents of looting — took advantage of uncertain conditions in our community,” said Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney on the case.
The incident came as widespread protests occurred across the country over the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, video of the incident showed. A handful of the protests have become violent, leading to cases of arson and looting.
The alleged robbery occurred June 6 just before 1:30 p.m. at Samaa K. Jewelry, a store in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, according to officers.
Two defendants charged with gunpoint robbery of Manhattan jewelry store while impersonating NYPD officers https://t.co/Qwk8Z6Xtw9
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) June 8, 2020
The suspects were dressed as NYPD officers and were wearing bulletproof vests, medical masks and gloves, according to the owner of the store. They allegedly identified themselves to the owner as officers from New York’s 19th Precinct.
They asked the owner to be let in so they could “examine the store owner’s properly permitted firearm, claiming that, due to the recent looting of commercial establishments in New York, firearms were at risk of being stolen,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office. (RELATED: Armed Citizens Stand Guard Against Looters In Minneapolis)
Once the suspects began inspecting the owner’s gun, they allegedly ordered the owner to step out from behind the counter. They then pushed him to the floor and tied his legs and wrists, according to police.
Igartua and Rodriguez then accessed the store’s safe and fled with over $150,000 worth of jewelry, prosecutors said.
The two were caught in a subway station on 96th Street about 20 minutes after the alleged robbery took place, where officers arrested them.
If convicted, both suspects could face lengthy prison sentences of up to 20 years for robbery and conspiracy, while brandishing a firearm carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The count of being a felon in possession of a firearm carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
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