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Westchester Man Sentenced For Kidnapping, Robbery, Other Charges Westchester Man Sentenced For Kidnapping, Robbery, Other Charges
Westchester Man Sentenced For Kidnapping, Robbery, Other Charges A 26-year-old man will spend nearly two decades in prison after being sentenced for drug, weapon, and robbery charges in connection to a violent kidnapping on behalf of a Mexican cartel, authorities announced. Yonkers resident Fernando Ra was sentenced to 18 years in prison in connection to robbery, firearms, and narcotics offenses, US Attorney Damian Williams announced. Williams said that on Oct. 3, 2020, Ra and his co-conspirators kidnapped, restrained, robbed, and “savagely assaulted” two victims using guns and baseball bats to beat them. The indictment states that Ra also used a knife …

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by Zak Failla
News
New Details Emerge After Missing Child Found In Dark, Wet Enclosure In Hudson Valley New Details Emerge After Missing Child Found In Dark, Wet Enclosure In Hudson Valley
New Details Emerge After Missing Child Found In Dark, Wet Enclosure In Hudson Valley New details have emerged as the mother and father accused of abducting their daughter and hiding her in a hovel-like room under a staircase at an area home are set to appear in court. Ulster County residents Kimberly Cooper, age 33, and Kirk Shultis Jr., age 32, of Saugerties, were arrested Monday, Feb. 14, after police found Paislee Shultis, age 6, being held in a dark, wet room underneath a staircase in a Saugerties home.  The couple abducted the then 4-year-old from her legal guardian from Cayuga Heights, near Ithaca, in Tompkins County, New York, in 2019, Saugerties Police Chief Joseph…

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by Kathy Reakes
Police & Fire
Lack Of COVID Test Stops Kidnapper's Bid To Cross Canadian Border With Girl In Trunk Lack Of COVID Test Stops Kidnapper's Bid To Cross Canadian Border With Girl In Trunk
Lack Of COVID Test Stops Kidnapper's Bid To Cross Canadian Border With Girl In Trunk A teenage man who was stopped at the Canadian border for lack of a COVID-19 test had kidnapped a 16-year-old from Connecticut, sexually assaulted her, and put her in the trunk of his car, according to police. The kidnapping was reported in Connecticut when the suspect, 19-year-old Christopher Jesus Constanzo, abducted and sexually assaulted the female victim on Thursday, Dec. 2, according to Vermont State Police.  Constanzo is then reported to have held the victim in the trunk of his car while he drove from Connecticut toward the US border crossing in Highgate Springs, Vermont. Early …

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by Joe Lombardi
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Man Sentenced For Kidnapping Woman In New Rochelle Later Found Dead Man Sentenced For Kidnapping Woman In New Rochelle Later Found Dead
Man Sentenced For Kidnapping Woman In New Rochelle Later Found Dead The ex-boyfriend of a 24-year-old Westchester woman whose body was found dead in a suitcase in Connecticut has been sentenced to decades behind bars for his role in her 2019 kidnapping. Javier Enrique Da Silva Rojas, age 25, of Queens, pleaded guilty in White Plains federal court to kidnapping Valerie Reyes in New Rochelle and illegally transporting her to Fairfield County, where her body was found in a suitcase a week later in Greenwich. Earlier story - Shock, Sadness In Westchester After Missing Woman ID'd As Murder Victim US Attorney Audrey Strauss announced that Rojas has been sen…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Man Charged With Kidnapping After Missing NY 15-Year-Old Found In Virginia Man Charged With Kidnapping After Missing NY 15-Year-Old Found In Virginia
Man Charged With Kidnapping After Missing NY 15-Year-Old Found In Virginia A man is facing kidnapping charges after allegedly taking a 15-year-old Long Island boy he met online out of state. Suffolk County Police Fifth Squad detectives are investigating the circumstances during which the missing special needs boy was found in Virginia early on Wednesday, June 30. The boy was reported missing by his family on Tuesday, June 29 at approximately 1:30 p.m., after he was last seen leaving his home at 11:30 a.m., police said.  Following an investigation, detectives determined the boy had been communicating with a 20-year-old man residing in Tennessee through an ins…

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by Kathy Reakes
Police & Fire
Seen Him Or This Car? Man Wanted In Connection With Attempted Kidnapping, NY State Police Say Seen Him Or This Car? Man Wanted In Connection With Attempted Kidnapping, NY State Police Say
Seen Him Or This Car? Man Wanted In Connection With Attempted Kidnapping, NY State Police Say New York State Police investigators are seeking the public’s assistance in locating a wanted man connected to an alleged kidnapping. On Thursday, March 25, New York State Police launched an investigation into a domestic incident involving a potential kidnapping shortly before 5 a.m. in the town of Halcott in Greene County, officials said. The suspect, 29-year-old Bahji Green was soon spotted by New York State Police who attempted to initiate a traffic stop. Police said that Green refused to comply and sped away, leading to a shortly terminated chase. According to police, when the pursuit w…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Couple Who Kidnapped Their Own Kids Apprehended In Upstate NY, Police Say Couple Who Kidnapped Their Own Kids Apprehended In Upstate NY, Police Say
Couple Who Kidnapped Their Own Kids Apprehended In Upstate NY, Police Say A New York couple who allegedly kidnapped their own kids after losing custody have been apprehended upstate. The New York City Sheriff’s office helped track down Eddie Bellas, age 37, and Mekaybew McNeal, age 27, both of Queens, in Schenectady on Tuesday, March 30, said Sheriff Joseph Fucito. The kids -- a 4-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter -- had been taken from their guardian and been on the run with parents for six days when nabbed by the Sheriff's Office. Fucito said deputies conducted an investigation on the movements of the suspects and were able to track them to Schenect…

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by Kathy Reakes
Lifestyle
'Operation Jacknap': Westchester Resident Details His 1974 Kidnapping 'Operation Jacknap': Westchester Resident Details His 1974 Kidnapping
'Operation Jacknap': Westchester Resident Details His 1974 Kidnapping Nothing seemed out of place that November night of 1974 when Jack Teich pulled into the driveway of his Long Island home in Kings Point. As he exited his car, two men accosted him, covered his head and pushed him into the backseat of a waiting car, placing a tarp over his body.  What should have been a peaceful homecoming to wife and sons after a long day of work suddenly turned into a nightmare. This is how the story of "Operation Jacknap" begins and the pace never lets up as Teich, now 80 and a Westchester resident, recounts those harrowing days of fearing for his own life and the liv…

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by Vira Mamchur Schwartz
News
Search For College Student Wanted For String Of Killings Stretches To New State Search For College Student Wanted For String Of Killings Stretches To New State
Search For College Student Wanted For String Of Killings Stretches To New State Click here for an updated story: College Student Wanted For String Of Killings Apprehended The search for the college student wanted for a string of killings, a home invasion and a kidnapping has now stretched to a new state. Since the first of the two homicides in Connecticut happened on Friday, May 22, nvestigators have followed the trail of 23-year-old Peter Manfredonia through northern New Jersey and the Poconos in Pennsylvania. Police said on Wednesday, May 27 that a man matching his description took a ride-hailing service to the Hagerstown, Maryland, area. Manfredonia, a 20…

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by Joe Lombardi
Police & Fire
Father Of Wanted College Student Linked To String Of Slayings Was Arrested For Sexual Assault Father Of Wanted College Student Linked To String Of Slayings Was Arrested For Sexual Assault
Father Of Wanted College Student Linked To String Of Slayings Was Arrested For Sexual Assault The father of the University of Connecticut student and former high school football player in Fairfield County who is the subject of a massive manhunt for two slayings was arrested last month for sexual assault. Robert Manfredonia, 54, of Waterbury, turned himself in at Newtown Police headquarters on Tuesday, April 28, after learning there was a warrant for his arrest, said Lt. Aaron  Bahamonde. He was arrested for an alleged sexual assault that occurred on Friday, April 10. Related Story: 'It's Time To Surrender': Family Appeals To 23-Year-Old Ex-HS Athlete Wanted For Slayings He was ch…

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by Kathy Reakes
News
'It's Time To Surrender': Family Appeals To 23-Year-Old Ex-HS Athlete Wanted For Slayings 'It's Time To Surrender': Family Appeals To 23-Year-Old Ex-HS Athlete Wanted For Slayings
'It's Time To Surrender': Family Appeals To 23-Year-Old Ex-HS Athlete Wanted For Slayings The family of a college senior who played varsity football in Fairfield County and who is the subject of a massive search by law enforcement for a string of slayings is asking him to surrender. Police began searching for the University of Connecticut student Peter Manfredonia, 23, after State Police say that he was seen leaving the scene of the brutal murder of Thomas DeMers in Willington, on Friday, May 22. Manfredonia, a 2015 Newtown High School grad, is also wanted in connection with another homicide, a kidnapping and home invasion, and a violent assault.  He was last seen Sunday, May …

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by Kathy Reakes
News
Westchester Man Accused Of Zip Tying Victim In Gunpoint Kidnapping Westchester Man Accused Of Zip Tying Victim In Gunpoint Kidnapping
Westchester Man Accused Of Zip Tying Victim In Gunpoint Kidnapping A Westchester man has been accused of committing a violent gunpoint kidnapping. Yonkers resident Owen Drain, also known as “Whiteboy,” and “Tommy,” was charged this week in Manhattan federal court to a gunpoint kidnapping in the Bronx on Nov. 19 last year. It is alleged that on that day, Drain zip-tied his victim during the course of the kidnapping, according to U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman. “As alleged in the Indictment, the defendant kidnapped a victim in a car at gunpoint,” Berman said in a statement. “Thanks to the outstanding work of the FBI…

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by Zak Failla