Sought For Capers Across West Queens
Men from Maspeth and Long Island City were separately charged with burglarizing and attempting to break into various Queens locations-including a Flushing church and community center-over the last six months, prosecutors announced on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown identified the two defendants as Randolph Ardila, 29, of 57th Drive in Maspeth and Raheim West, 37, of 21st Street in the Ravenswood section of Long Island City.
Brown stated that the two arrests were the result of an investigation by the NYPD’s Burglary Larceny Apprehension Suppression Team (BLAST), which works in an undercover capacity to investigate ongoing patterns of residential and commercial burglaries.
Ardila was arraigned on Sunday, Feb. 23, before Queens Criminal Court Judge Deborah Stevens Modica on a criminal complaint charging him with two counts of second-degree burglary, two counts of second-degree attempted burglary, one count of possession of burglar’s tools and two counts of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. Ardila, who faces up to thirty years in prison if convicted, was ordered held on $150,000 bail and to return to court on Mar. 10.
West was arraigned on Monday, Feb. 24, before Queens Criminal Court Judge Gia Morris on four criminal complaints charging him with two counts of second-degree attempted burglary, four counts of third-degree burglary, one count of fourth-degree grand larceny, one count of petit larceny, one count of possession of burglar’s tools, five counts of fourth-degree criminal mischief, three counts of seconddegree criminal trespass and one count of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. West, who faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted, was ordered held on $200,000 bail and to return to court also on Mar. 10.
“The defendants are accused of brazenly committing a rash of burglaries across a wide swath of Queens County-including the neighborhoods of Ridgewood, Glendale, Ozone Park, Flushing, College Point and Corona,” Brown said. “According to the charges, nobody was safe from the crimes allegedly perpetrated by the defendants-including the dead. In one instance, a box containing the cremated remains of a loved one was allegedly stolen from a burglarized apartment. While the defendants will be held accountable for their alleged actions, businesses and residents should take adequate precautions by inspecting their premises to see if there is a need for added security.”
According to the charges in the first case, Ardila acted as a lookout between 4 and 5 p.m. last Friday, Feb. 21, while two unapprehended individuals attempted to burglarize residences on 75th Avenue in Ridgewood and on 77th Avenue in Glendale.
In the first instance, it is alleged that a locked front window had been pried open and, in the second instance, pry marks allegedly made with a tool like a screwdriver were observed on the front door.
At approximately 4:50 p.m. that afternoon, law enforcement sources said, police observed two people enter an apartment building on 103rd Avenue in Ozone Park. Ardila reportedly parked a gray BMW in close proximity to the building before exiting the vehicle and acting as a lookout.
Shortly thereafter, three people allegedly exited the building, two of whom were carrying bags. One of the bags was allegedly placed in the gray BMW that Ardila was driving.
Police then allegedly observed Ardila entering the BMW on the driver’s side and saw what appeared to be a container on or with the bag. The other individuals allegedly entered a blue Honda and the two vehicles then drove away.
At the time of Ardila’s arrest, he was allegedly carrying a blue plastic container filled with change and a $20 bill-which allegedly had been reported missing from an apartment at the Ozone Park location-and had a screwdriver on his possession.
In the blue Honda, police allegedly recovered a box containing the cremation ashes of a tenant’s mother-which had been reported stolen from a second apartment at the Ozone Park location.
Regarding the second case, West was allegedly observed on video surveillance footage breaking into the Promise Christian Academy Church on 31st Avenue in Flushing on the afternoon of Sept. 7, 2013, and stealing $2,750 in cash that had been placed in a locked desk drawer inside a locked office. Both the locks for the desk and office had allegedly been damaged.
It is additionally alleged in a second complaint that on the afternoon of Feb. 7, a social worker at Asian Community Care Management on Sanford Avenue in Flushing left her handbag containing $160 in cash in her office while she attended a meeting held in the building’s basement. When she later retrieved her handbag, she allegedly discovered that the $160 in cash was missing.
In reviewing surveillance footage at the location, West was allegedly observed entering the locked office, going through the desk drawer and handbag, and removing the $160 in cash. Scratch marks were allegedly observed on the office door’s lock.
In a third criminal complaint, it is alleged that on or about the afternoon of Feb. 10, West entered the vestibule of a residential apartment building on 43rd Avenue in Corona and forcibly attempted to open the door leading into the interior of the building but without success.
Later that same afternoon, West was allegedly observed by police parking a car on 20th Avenue in College Point and exiting the vehicle. Thereafter, a residential burglary was reported in direct vicinity of where West had parked his vehicle. The residence’s front door allegedly had been pried open and cash removed from the premises.
It is alleged that the pry marks were similar to those in other burglaries for which West was charged and consistent with those made by the pry bar that West possessed at the time of his arrest.
Finally, in the fourth complaint, it is alleged that West was observed entering and exiting a multi-story residential apartment building on 43rd Avenue in Corona last Saturday afternoon, Feb. 22. Police later allegedly observed pry marks on two apartment doors-one in the basement and one on the third floor.
At approximately 7 p.m. on that same day, West was observed entering the Bowne Street Community Center on Roosevelt Avenue in Corona and staying for approximately 30 minutes before exiting the building, getting into his car and driving away. Thereafter, police allegedly entered the community center and learned that there were four offices on the second floor rented to pastors and that each of the offices is kept locked.
Pry marks were allegedly discovered on the doors of each of the four offices and, in two instances, the doors were opened and items inside moved around. It is additionally alleged that multiple donation envelopes were missing from one of the two burglarized offices. A review of the community center’s surveillance video allegedly showed West walking up the stairs to the second floor.
When West was arrested shortly after driving away from the Bowne Street Community Center, police allegedly recovered a prybar, a screwdriver and work gloves from his vehicle, as well as envelopes- two of which bore the community center’s information and were marked to indicate camp and t-shirt funds. It is alleged that both envelopes were ripped open and that West had approximately $310 in cash on his person.
The investigation was conducted by the NYPD’s Patrol Borough Queens North Anti-Crime Unit, specifically Police Officers John Riccardello and Todd Keyes, under the supervision of Sgt. Joseph Cappelmann, Lt. Robert Rattigan and Capt. Terrence M. O’Toole, and under the overall supervision of Assistant Chief Diana L. Pizzuti, Commanding Officer of Patrol Borough Queens North.
Assistant District Attorney Marnie Lobel of the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau is prosecuting the cases under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Anthony M. Communiello, bureau chief, and Oscar W. Ruiz, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney Linda M.Cantoni.
It was noted that criminal complaints are merely accusations and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
