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Arrests Made In Empire City Casino Winner Car-Bump Robbery

Two men were in custody after authorities said they robbed a casino gambler by bumping his car from behind on Route 208 in Wyckoff and claiming they were police officers.

Both defendants remained held pending extradition to New Jersey.

Both defendants remained held pending extradition to New Jersey.

Photo Credit: Jerry DeMarco

The driver told police he’d left the Empire City Casino in Yonkers around 5:30 a.m. Sept. 2 and was headed north on the highway when his vehicle was struck from behind near Cedar Hill Avenue.

One of two men who got out of the other car “identified himself as a law enforcement officer and instructed him to place his hands on the trunk of his vehicle,” Wyckoff Police Chief David Murphy said.

“They then held him while they removed cash from his pocket, along with his iPhone,” the chief said Friday.

Both then got back into their car and took off, the victim told police.

Wyckoff Detective Sgts. Kevin Kasak and Michael Ragucci determined that the pair had been watching the victim at the casino and then followed him as he drove home, Murphy said.

“With assistance from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Special Investigations Squad, the Yonkers Police Department, the NYPD, the New Jersey State Police, and the DEA, the suspects were identified, located, and arrested,” he said.

Kevin J. Urena, 26, of the Bronx and Howard V. Ayllon, 20, of Elizabeth -- both of whom are single and unemployed -- remained held in New York City pending extradition to New Jersey, the chief said.

Both were charged with robbery, theft and impersonating a law enforcement officer after being arrested early Monday, he said.

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