Attacked Mom & Kids Near Shelter
Following an extensive investigation, detectives booked a phony cab driver from Yonkers last week who allegedly assaulted a mother and her three children while dropping them off at an Elmhurst homeless shelter, prosecutors announced.
Pedro Vargas, 48, of Central Park Avenue was collared last Friday morning, Aug. 29, five days after the incident outside the former Pan American Hotel, located at 79-00 Queens Blvd.
According to police, Vargas- while posing as a taxi driver- allegedly drove the 26-year-old female victim and her children- ages 1, 3 and 5-to the Pan American Hotel from a point in upper Manhattan.
Investigators found that Vargas allegedly did not have a valid taxi license, but yet approached the victim in Manhattan claiming to be a cab driver and offered to drive her and her children to their destination.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said Vargas allegedly went on the attack shortly after arrival at the location and engaging in a verbal dispute with the victim. In a security camera video that the NYPD released last Wednesday night, the suspect was seen outside of the vehicle allegedly accosting the woman as she held her infant child.
During the struggle, Vargas allegedly elbowed the victim’s 5- year-old child on the sidewalk, causing the youngster to fall to the ground. The suspect reportedly then removed the 3- year-old from the car and forcibly dumped the youth on the sidewalk.
Authorities said Vargas then returned to his vehicle and began driving away with the passenger side door still open. As a result, prosecutors noted, the door struck the 1-year-old child.
Officers from the 110th Precinct responded to the incident. The children were brought to a local hospital for treatment of various minor injuries.
Vargas was charged last Wednesday by Det. James Ropenus of the NYPD Queens Special Victims Squad with multiple counts of third-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child and operating a vehicle for hire without a license.
According to court records, Vargas was ordered held on $7,500 bond or $3,500 cash during his arraignment last Friday, Aug. 29, before Queens Criminal Court Judge Michele Armstrong. He is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 12.
If convicted, Vargas faces up to two years behind bars.
Assistant District Attorneys Kenneth M. Appelbaum and Eric Rosenbaum, the respective chief and deputy chiefs of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau, are supervising the prosecution of the case.
