Suspect In Wild Carjacking Spree Arraigned, Remanded Pending Results Of Psych Exam
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- The man accused of going on a violent carjacking spree in Brooklyn and Queens was arraigned on Saturday night.
Nicolas Almonte, 27, appeared in front of Judge Gia Morris at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday in Queens Criminal Court. He has been charged with multiple counts of robbery, attempted robbery and unlawful imprisonment. He's accused of stealing three vehicles, robbing a man and attempting to rob two others at gunpoint.
Almonte has been remanded pending the results of a psychiatric exam.
The carjacking spree began at 9:37 a.m. on Thursday. That's when police responded to a 911 call from Borden Avenue near 21st Street. A woman told police she had been carjacked at gunpoint in her 2006 Mercedes SLK280. The suspect drove around her for a few minutes before she jumped out of the car near Queens Plaza by Thompson Avenue and Vandam Street, police said.
Meanwhile, Almonte supposedly ditched the Mercedes, which police later recovered. He allegedly tried to carjack a white Ford Econoline van but wasn't successful, police said.
At 10:01 a.m., police were called to Thompson Avenue and Vandam Street, where the same suspect carjacked a gray 2007 Lexus. Police found that car nearby at 38th Street and Hunters Point Avenue.
A few minutes later, at 10:07 a.m., Almonte allegedly tried to rob a woman walking her dog at 50th Avenue and 39th Street, police said. The suspect told the woman he wanted her car keys and ran off when she told him she didn't have any, police said.
At 10:20 a.m., the suspect robbed a man at gunpoint on 38th Street and Hunters Point Avenue, police said. The man was robbed of his cash.
At 10:30 a.m., the suspect carjacked the driver of a 1996 Gold Mercedes C280 at Greenpoint Avenue and 39th Street. The victim, a 55-year-old man, had just left Steve Massis' auto body shop.
"As soon as he walked out, he started running, coming back screaming, 'No!' He called my name 'Steve! Steve! Come out!' So I come out, and he's shaken up," Massis told CBS 2's Aiello.
Later that evening Almonte was arrested in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
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