By Rebecca Henely
An East Elmhurst man who allegedly framed his ex-girlfriend for robbery and impersonating a police officer was arrested last Thursday on counts of perjury, falsifying business records and other charges, the Nassau County district attorney’s office said.
Jerry Ramrattan, 38, allegedly paid Terrell Lovell of Brooklyn and Luz Johnson of New Jersey, to lie to authorities and say that 35-year-old Far Rockaway resident Seemona Sumasar had conducted robberies at gunpoint while dressed as a police officer, the Nassau DA said.
Sumasar was arrested in May and charged with robbery, criminal impersonation, criminal use of a firearm and unlawful wearing of a body vest, the Nassau DA said. She has since been cleared of all charges against her, Nassau DA Kathleen Rice said.
“Jerry Ramrattan’s tangled web of deception and manipulation created a nightmare scenario for this innocent woman,” Rice said. “Once my office became aware of the new evidence, we worked quickly to release Sumasar and to arrest the defendant.”
Ramrattan has been charged with perjury, falsely reporting an incident, offering a false instrument and conspiracy, the Nassau DA said. He was being held on $1 million bond or $500,000 cash, the DA said. His next court date is Dec. 17, the DA said.
Lovell called the Nassau police in March to report he had been robbed at gunpoint in Inwood, L.I., by a man and woman dressed as police officers, the Nassau DA said. He gave a partial license plate and a description of the getaway car to the police. In May, police received an anonymous call from a man who claimed he had also been robbed by a similar pair and gave a full license plate number, which was traced to Sumasar’s sister, the Nassau DA said. When Lovell was shown a picture of Sumasar’s sister, he said she was not the one who robbed him, according to the DA’s account.
On May 19, Johnson reported to police that she had been robbed by similar suspects while driving in Inwood, the Nassau DA said. She gave the police a full license plate number and reported some of her mail — which had her home address in New Jersey — and a spare key had been stolen, the Nassau DA said. Two days later, she called police again, saying someone driving a black Nissan had attempted to steal her car. The license plate was traced to Devon McDonald, Sumasar’s boyfriend, the Nassau DA said. A man also reported Sumasar had robbed him at gunpoint in Jamaica, Rice said.
Based on this evidence, Nassau County police arrested Sumasar when she was seen driving the black Nissan May 21 and then charged after Lovell and Johnson picked her picture out of a group of photos. Later, Sumasar was charged in the false incident in Jamaica by the Queens district attorney, Rice said.
An anonymous person spoke to the Nassau DA Nov. 30 and told the office Ramrattan had paid off Lovell and Johnson to lie about Sumasar as well as to give partial license plates to cars she had been known to drive and to identify her photo. They both confessed to the crime separately and were charged with perjury Dec. 1, the Nassau DA said.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
