Cuff Advantageous Crook In Oz. Pk. Caper
An apparent Good Samaritan gone bad was busted by police last Friday, Jan. 3, after robbing the man whom he had helped to free a vehicle stuck in the snow at an Ozone Park intersection, law enforcement sources said.
Genero Placenia, 18, of Tapscott Street in Brownsville was reportedly collared in Cypress Hills last Friday in a failed attempt to avoid capture by officers searching for him. In the process, he allegedly ditched the weapon used in the robbery-and nearly all of his clothes on one of the coldest days of the season, authorities noted.
Police said the trouble began at around 3:32 p.m. last Friday at the corner of 75th Street and Pitkin Avenue near the Brooklyn/Queens border.
Reportedly, the 19-year-old male victim was digging out his green 2001 Honda Civic from the snow when Placenia approached and offered to assist him.
Moments later, law enforcement sources said, the victim got behind the wheel of the Honda Civic and attempted to drive out of the snow, with Placenia allegedly pushing the sedan from behind.
Once the vehicle was freed, it was reported, Placenia asked the victim to drive him to the intersection of 75th Street and Pitkin Avenue.
Police said the victim complied, but upon arriving at the location, Placenia displayed a weapon and demanded the victim’s property. Reportedly, the victim handed over his iPhone5 and $60 in cash, then was forced out of his vehicle.
Authorities stated Placenia then drove away from the scene in the victim’s car.
Officers from the 75th and 106th precincts responded to the incident. The victim was not injured.
The precincts then launched a search for the suspect and the stolen vehicle on both sides of the Brooklyn/Queens border. A short time later, authorities said, officers found the stolen Honda Civic stuck in the snow and abandoned at the corner of Logan Street and Atlantic Avenue in Cypress Hills, about a mile away from where the robbery occurred.
Upon further investigation, law enforcement sources said, 106th Precinct detectives obtained video footage near where the car was ditched which showed Placenia exiting from the vehicle and running northbound on Logan Street toward Dinsmore Place.
Officers began tracing the route and found the weapon allegedly used by Placenia in the robbery-a black 9mm High Point gun-at the corner of Logan Street and Dinsmore Avenue.
In continuing their search for the suspect, law enforcement sources noted, police obtained information that a man believed to be Placenia had run into an auto body shop located at the corner of Richmond Street and Dinsmore Place, discarded the black jacket he was wearing and fled wearing a red hooded sweatshirt with white cow-print sleeves.
Placenia, who fit a description of the suspect, was located by 106th Precinct detectives a short time later inside a laundromat located at the corner of Fulton and Chestnut streets. After the detectives entered the laundromat, authorities noted, Placenia ran out through the rear of the business-but left his shoes behind.
Joined by officers from the 75th Precinct, police eventually caught up to Placenia inside the basement of a building on Logan Street near Ridgewood Avenue. Upon finding him, police said, he had most of his clothes off.
Placenia’s clothing-which included the red hooded sweatshirt with cow-print sleeves-as well as the victim’s cell phone were found in a garbage bag at the location, police noted.
After being treated at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center for weatherrelated injuries, Placenia was charged with first-degree robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property and resisting arrest.
According to court records, he was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court last Saturday, Jan. 4, before Judge Gia Morris, who ordered him held on $25,000 bond or $15,000 cash. Placenia is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 21.
