Bushwick Youth Busted For Ridgewood Robbery
Two Bushwick teenagers were pinched by police for their alleged roles in the armed robbery and assault of a woman on a Ridgewood street last Thursday morning, Mar. 15, it was reported.
The duo were identified by law enforcement sources as Mark Heckstall, 19, of Jefferson Street and Deryck Lopez, 15, of Putnam Avenue.
Lopez, who was described in court records as a “juvenile violent felony offender”and charged as an adult, was additionally booked for the failed gunpoint robbery of a man at the corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and Woodbine Street earlier last Thursday morning.
According to information provided by the Queens District Attorney’s office, Lopez, Heckstall and a third, unidentified male allegedly robbed a woman who was walking in the vicinity of Onderdonk and 70th avenues at around 10:30 a.m. last Thursday.
Reportedly, Lopez and an unidentified male approached the victim from behind and placed a silver handgun at her side. Authorities said the suspect allegedly walked in front of her, pointed the gun at her face and demanded her iPhone.
Law enforcement sources noted that Lopez then struck the woman in the head with the weapon, causing a laceration; according to the criminal complaint, he then swiped her iPhone from her hand and ran from the scene.
The unidentified male who was with Lopez when he approached the woman then struck the victim, police said. Authorities reported that Heckstall acted as a lookout standing nearby while the robbery took place.
The three suspects reportedly fled from the scene in an unknown direction.
Members of the 104th Precinct responded to the scene. The woman was transported to a local hospital for treatment of her laceration.
Police tracked down Heckstall and Lopez a short time after the robbery. During questioning, the criminal complaint noted, Lopez allegedly admitted to robbing the woman and assaulting her with a weapon he described as a BB gun.
The stolen iPhone was recovered by the officers from Heckstall’s possession, law enforcement sources said. The third male remains at large.
Both suspects were charged by P.O. Michael Varecka of the 104th Precinct wtih first-degree robbery, first-degree armed robbery, two counts of second-degree robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. Lopez was additionally charged with first-degree attempted robbery and first-degree attempted armed robbery.
Lopez and Heckstall were arriagned in Queens Criminal Court last Saturday, Mar. 17, before Judge John Latella, who ordered each of them held on $10,000 bail.
They are scheduled to return to court on Mar. 29.
