Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa, Venezuelan teen migrant, 15, arrested for shooting Times Square tourist and cops while fleeing attempted store robbery. Described as being part of crime gang with previous arrests since arriving in NYC as migrant crises continues unabated with lawmakers having little flexibility to met out punishment.
A 15-year-old Venezuelan migrant, suspected of shooting a tourist and indiscriminately shooting at cops while fleeing a store robbery gone wrong in NYC‘s Times Square was arrested on Friday, law enforcement sources said.
Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa the wanted teen was into custody at a home in Yonkers at around 3:30 p.m., according to the US Marshals Joint Regional Fugitive Task Force and the NYPD.
Venezuelan teen migrant part of crime network
The teen’s arrest came less than a day following an attempted robbery at the Crossroads of the World mall in Times Square, Thursday night.
The teen arrived in September and had been staying at a temporary shelter at the Stratford Hotel on West 70th Street, according to NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell.
He is also a suspect in an armed robbery in the Bronx from January 27, and another incident in which shots were fired in Midtown, the police official said during a Friday press conference.
Rivas-Figueroa’s last known address was a migrant shelter on NYC’s Upper West Side, FOX5 reported. The center is believed to have become a harbor of organized crime, facilitating child endangerment, assault and robbery.
The teen was considered ‘armed and dangerous’ with what police believe is a ‘very large’ .45-caliber handgun.
The teen allegedly ‘indiscriminately’ fired two shots at police officers while fleeing the scene Thursday night. It remained unclear how the newly arrived teen boy was able to acquire his weapon.
‘We’re not gonna put up with this.’
Rivas-Figueroa allegedly opened fire with a ‘very large’ .45 caliber handgun when a security guard stopped him at JD Sports, a sports-fashion retail store, on West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue at around 7 p.m., Chell said.
Tatiele Riberio, a 38-year-old tourist from Brazil was struck in the leg, with the gunman and another 15-year-old boy fleeing the scene. Rivas-Figueroa allegedly opened gunfire on a cop as he ran away toward West 46th Street, Chell said.
‘He had no problems firing into a crowd at a store… and not shooting at cops once, but shooting at them twice,’ Chell said.
‘And I gotta tell you, [if] one of those bullets hits our cop last night, this is a whole different conversation we’re having today. Our cops showed great restraint not to fire their weapons into a crowd of New Yorkers,’ Chell said.
‘We’re not gonna put up with this.’
Rivas-Figueroa and two other teen migrants, the 15-year-old and another boy, 16, were allegedly spotted snatching clothes from the second floor of the store, the police official said.
Indiscriminate firing into crowds
The trio was stopped by a female security officer, who exchanged words with them before Rivas-Figueroa allegedly pulled the gun and fired ‘at her into a crowd,’ Chell said.
The guard wasn’t hit, with the bullets instead striking the innocent shopper, who suffered a minor wound above her knee and was recovering at her hotel nearby on Friday.
Rivas-Figueroa and the other 15-year-old then proceeded to flee the scene, Chell said.
Cops patrolling the area began chasing them, with one of the officers catching the unidentified teen and the other continuing to run after the gunman, who was wearing an all-white outfit, toward Sixth Avenue, police said.
‘He turns once, he fires towards our officer,’ Chell told reporters.
‘Our officer takes his gun out and he cannot return fire, there are too many people in his way. Our suspect goes through the cut between the buildings. He’s running, he takes his gun out and under his armpit he fires again at our officer,’ Chell continued, as he demonstrated how the shooter reached behind his back with the gun.
What to do with migrant community?
MTA video footage then showed the suspect running into the 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station at Sixth Avenue, where he went on the tracks before emerging and escaping onto the street, Chell said.
Cops arrested the 16-year-old Friday morning and he and the other 15-year-old were in custody as investigators worked to determine what role they played in the incident.
‘We’re still trying to figure out [their] role in this,’ Chell said.
Rivas-Figueroa and the two other teens went to school together, the police official noted.
‘The state of this police department is we don’t care who you are, what your status is,’ he said, referring to the three teens being migrants.
‘We’re not going to go and broad brush a whole migrant community as being bad people… our concern, the community’s concern is to take this armed and dangerous juvenile off the streets,’ Chell said.
❗🇻🇪🌊🇺🇸 – Taxpayer-funded migrant shelter in New York.
Newly arrived Venezuelan immigrants to New York City quickly organized themselves into criminal networks.
Police have arrested hundreds of them for crimes including child endangerment, assault and robbery but they are… pic.twitter.com/7RijhU3LcI
— 🔥🗞The Informant (@theinformantofc) February 6, 2024
Local authorities limited ability to met out punishment against sanctuary designated migrants
Rivas-Figueroa was taken into custody Friday at what sources said was the home of a relative or associate.
JD Sports workers said they were shocked by the burst of violence.
‘No people come in trying to steal,’ an employee told the nypost. ‘You have a little scuffle here and there, but nothing like this.’
The Thursday night episode is the latest incidence of spiraling crime at the tourist hotspot involving migrants.
A gang of seven migrants has been indicted for attacking NYPD officers in Times Square in a separate attack on January 27.
Most of them were released after their initial arrest on account of NYC’s sanctuary laws and have not been located by cops since. Only one remains in custody, FOX5 reported.
Given the sanctuary status of migrants bestowed by federal regulators, the ability of what enforcements — including deportation of accused criminals, are available to local authorities are limited.
