Bronx, NY- Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced Friday, Nov. 21, that four men and a 16-year-old boy were indicted on first-degree robbery, conspiracy, grand larceny and other related charges for seven gunpoint robberies that took place in the Kingsbridge, Fordham Heights and Mott Haven sections of The Bronx, among others, that netted them nearly $100,000 in jewelry. The other locations included parts of Northern Manhattan but are being handled separately by the Office of the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“The defendants, including a 16-year-old boy, allegedly put guns to victims’ heads or chests and stole their jewelry in a spree that lasted two weeks,” Clark said during a Friday press conference. “They accosted people of various ages, in different areas of The Bronx, including causing fear on our streets. We are fortunate that no one was shot, but these victims’ lives were threatened, and some are forever traumatized. No one should have to live that way. My crime victims advocates stand ready to assist them.”
Clark said the defendants, Manuel Rivas, 20, of Newark, New Jersey, Wilfren Carbuccia, 20, Anthony Perez, 29, and John Doe, 16, all of The Bronx, and a fifth defendant who has not yet been apprehended, were indicted on first, second, and third-degree robbery, third and fourth-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree conspiracy. She said Rivas is additionally charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, possession of a firearm, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and possession of ammunition. Clark said the 16-year-old defendant is also charged in a separate indictment for a robbery on Sept. 27, in which a man was invited to a party at a Bronx apartment where he was held up for his watch and gold chain as the defendant allegedly held a pistol with an extended magazine to his chest.
The district attorney said the 16-year-old was arraigned on the robbery pattern indictment on Nov. 20, before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Gayle Roberts and bail was set at $100,000 cash, $500,000 bond and $500,000 partially secured bond at 10%. She said Carbuccia was arraigned on Nov. 20, before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas and was remanded in custody. She said Perez and Rivas are awaiting arraignment.
According to the investigation handled by the Bronx DA’s Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, Bronx Robbery Squad, Manhattan Robbery Squad, officers of the 41st, 46th, and 52nd Precincts, Manhattan North Homicide and Shooting Enhancement Team, and the FBI/NYPD Westchester Safe Streets Taskforce, the defendants, who are alleged members of the Trinitarios set BB7, allegedly committed seven armed robberies between Sept. 20 and Oct. 6, in The Bronx.
They allegedly wore masks and accosted victims who were wearing gold chains or expensive watches and rings, pointed multiple guns at them or held the firearms against them, and forcibly removed the jewelry. They joined up at two Bronx motels before the robberies and then afterwards, to inspect the proceeds.
The victims included an elderly man on a stoop in Kingsbridge who was so fearful, he moved out of the area within two weeks of the incident; a business owner in Mott Haven who the group cut off with a moped; a man standing outside a nightclub in Fordham Heights, and people in vehicles who the group would drive up to and block in with their getaway car. A video of various videos of the robberies screened at the press conference can be viewed here. Clark said there were no fatalities or non-fatal shooting injuries incurred during the robberies though victims were hurt in other ways or intimidated.
Norwood News asked the DA about a specific measure that had been announced by New York City Mayor Eric Adams post-pandemic that required customers to unmask before entering jewelry and other stores amid a slew of jewelry store robberies around that time. Clark said she believed there was some discussion around reversing the rule/law later but said she would need to check. We also reached out to the mayor’s office for comment and will share any updates we receive.
The robbery spree case is being prosecuted by Keturah R. Ladd, deputy chief, and Assistant District Attorney Sasha Abbott, of the DA’s Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, under the supervision of L. Newton Mendys, chief of the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, deputy chief of the Investigations Division and Wanda Perez-Maldonaldo, chief of the Investigations Division.
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