10 Indicted in 'Brazen Crime Spree' in NY, CT

WESTCHESTER, NY — Ten men are charged with participating in a conspiracy to commit robberies and burglaries in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties; Fairfield, CT; and the Bronx. The indictment also includes gun charges, as well as other theft-related offenses.

The investigation into the loosely organized Westchester-based crew involved 14 law enforcement agencies from Clarkstown in Rockland County to Danbury and Ridgefield in Connecticut.

Members of the Crew worked together to enrich themselves and their fellow Crew members through thefts, burglaries, and robberies, both armed and unarmed, law enforcement officials said. From 2015 to December 2016, members of the Crew burglarized more than 50 commercial establishments in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Fairfield (CT) Counties. They also robbed both businesses and drug dealers. Also, members of the Crew worked together to sell drugs, including drugs stolen from drug dealers during robberies and other thefts, and shared in the profits from those sales.

Among the acts they are alleged to have committed, the indictment lists robbing a pizzeria employee at gunpoint in Yonkers on Oct. 5, 2012; transporting over $25,000 in stolen goods across state lines in connection with a commercial burglary in Connecticut on Dec. 2, 2016; and committing a carjacking in Yonkers on Feb. 21, 2016.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim called it "a brazen crime spree." The men targeted not only businesses but also drug dealers, he said. "We are grateful to all of our law enforcement partners for their work in bringing the dangerous alleged crimes by this determined crew to an end.”

Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force, which is comprised of agents and investigators from the FBI, the United States Probation Office, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, the New York City Police Department, the City of Yonkers Police Department, the City of Peekskill Police Department, and the Mount Vernon Police Department.

"Getting criminal groups off our streets is the mission of the Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force and I’m proud to say today’s arrest meets that mission," said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney, Jr. "I commend the FBI agents and the task force detectives and officers on their hard work and collaboration in bringing this investigation towards prosecution.”

Kim also thanked the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, the Bedford Police Department, the Irvington Police Department, the Greenburgh Police Department, the Yorktown Police Department, the Mount Pleasant Police Department, the Village of Pleasantville Police Department, the Clarkstown Police Department, Town of Kent Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, the New York State Police, the Ridgefield (CT) Police Department, and the Danbury (CT) Police Department for their assistance.

“I applaud the outstanding police work that enabled us to apprehend these dangerous criminals," Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, JR. said. "This inter-agency collaboration is critical to our efforts to bring down these gangs who have been terrorizing our citizens over the past two years.”

Seven of the men charged were taken into custody today. Three were already in state custody on other charges. All those arrested Thursday will be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison in White Plains federal court this afternoon.

Most are Yonkers residents; two are from the Bronx and one is an Elmsford resident.

Indicted were:

• AYALA, ALEX, a/k/a “Al Bundy," 37, Bronx
• AUZA, JASON, 27, Yonkers
• DENNIS BROWN, a/k/a “Bundles,” 36, Yonkers
• NELSON CARTAGENA, 30, Yonkers
• ANDRE EMILIEN, 33, Yonkers, NY
• ELBIO ESPAILLAT, a/k/a “LB," 42, Bronx
• GUILLERMO FERNANDEZ, a/k/a “Chino," 43, Yonkers
• KASEAN GALLOWAY, a/k/a “K," 20, Yonkers
• OHN NASSAR, a/k/a “Mush” a/k/a “Big Johnny," 42, Yonkers
• PAUL VALLARO, 39, Elmsford