Targeted Distracted Shoppers Around Qns.
Taking advantage of distracted shoppers, a Bronx man allegedly pilfered cash, credit cards and cell phones from victims at businesses in Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Flushing, Rego Park and Woodside in a grand larceny pattern police busted last week, authorities announced.
Prosecutors said Walter E. Del Rosario, 49, of Timpson Place in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx appeared in Queens Criminal Court last Wednesday night, July 23, and was booked for seven different grand larcenies and petit thefts that occurred between last August and May of this year.
According to court records, Judge Donna M. Golia ordered Del Rosario held on a combined $27,000 bond or $14,500 cash bail and to return to court on Aug. 6. He faces a maximum sentence of 22 years behind bars if convicted.
“It is alleged that [Del Rosario] targeted victims with strollers or approached victims while their minds were preoccupied on matters other than their immediate surroundings,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement last Friday, July 25. “Queens County has long enjoyed the distinction of being a shoppers’ mecca and the defendant’s alleged actions not only hurt the people he purportedly fleeced, but the reputation of the borough itself.”
Law enforcement sources said the first theft occurred on Aug. 26, 2013 at the Rego Center Mall, located at 61-35 Junction Blvd. in Rego Park, when Del Rosario allegedly grabbed a cell phone from a pocketbook that a 34-year-old woman hung from a stroller she pushed while entering the Panera Bread café.
The victim reportedly told police that a Hispanic male held the door open for her and she discovered soon thereafter that her phone was missing.
Then on Oct. 18, 2013, police said, Del Rosario allegedly removed an iPhone and a wallet from a stroller pushed by a 35-year-old woman at the Target department store located at Queens Place, 88-01 Queens Blvd. The theft was reportedly caught on video surveillance cameras.
Authorities said the third larceny occurred on Nov. 6, 2013, when Del Rosario allegedly swiped an iPhone left on the top of a stroller that a 25- year-old woman pushed into the Sports Lane sporting goods shop at 96-54 Queens Blvd. in Rego Park. Reportedly, the theft occurred as the victim turned away from the stroller while browsing merchandise.
Law enforcement sources said Del Rosario allegedly grabbed another iPhone from a 19-year-old woman’s pocket inside the Love Culture fashion shop at 90-15 Queens Blvd. in Elmhurst on Dec. 14, 2013. As shown on security camera, he reportedly used a dress he grabbed off a nearby rack to conceal the theft as it took place.
Nearly four months later, prosecutors said, Del Rosario allegedly removed a cell phone that a 35-year-old man left charging on a seat at the New York Sports Club gym located at 69-47 Austin St. in Forest Hills.
Reportedly, the alleged crook struck again on Apr. 18, when he grabbed a wallet from a 42-year-old woman’s pocketbook inside a shop located at 40-10 Main St. in Flushing. Police said the suspect used a piece of clothing to shield himself as he took the wallet, which contained cash, credit cards and two tickets to a show.
Finally, on May 17, Del Rosario allegedly stole an iPhone that a 39- year-old woman left on a table at the Lucid Café at 59-02 Woodside Ave. in Woodside, authorities noted. Reportedly, the suspect took the device as the victim studied from a book.
Del Rosario was arrested last Tuesday, July 22, as a result of an investigation conducted by the NYPD Queens North Grand Larceny Squad.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Francesco Catarisano, chief of the DA’s Kew Gardens I Bureau, under the supervision of Senior Executive Assistant District Attorney of the Trial Division James C. Quinn.
