In a daring heist outside a Nassau County mall, three individuals accused of being in the country illegally reportedly stole over a million dollars’ worth of Apple products during a daylight armed robbery in January. The incident unfolded when the suspects targeted a delivery truck at the Americana Manhasset mall, a high-end shopping destination.
The suspects, identified as Michael Mejia-Nunez, 29, Alan Christhofer Cedeno-Ferrer, 27, and Ennait Alexis Sirett-Padilla, 24, are accused of launching the attack at 8 a.m., taking two security guards hostage as part of their scheme. According to the allegations, the suspects coerced one of the guards to drive to a secluded area, where they restrained both guards with zip ties and locked them in the truck’s rear compartment amidst freezing weather conditions.
Prosecutors allege that the suspects proceeded to unload more than $1.2 million in Apple merchandise into a rented van. They then fled to New Jersey, where they reportedly transferred the stolen goods into another rental vehicle. Fortunately, one guard managed to escape after the suspects had left, enabling him to call for assistance. Authorities noted the escape was crucial, as the freezing temperatures posed a severe threat to the guards’ safety.
“This audacious robbery not only traumatized the victims but also posed a threat to public safety at one of Long Island’s busiest shopping venues,” remarked United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. He further condemned the act, stating, “The defendants allegedly held two innocent workers at gunpoint purely out of selfish greed, hijacking and robbing their delivery vehicle.”
“As alleged, these defendants committed a violent and brazen daytime robbery that terrorized the victims and endangered the public at one of the most popular shopping centers on Long Island,” United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
“The defendants allegedly held two innocent employees at gunpoint before hijacking and robbing their delivery truck out of selfish greed,” he added.
Prosecutors detailed that they allegedly have a trove of evidence against them, including a web of surveillance footage, cell phone location data, fingerprints, the fake IDs used to rent the trucks, stolen Apple products, and even their own “unique” clothing police recovered that they said tracks them through nearly every step of the heist.
The trio — all illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic — were arrested and hauled before a federal judge in Central Islip on Thursday, where all three pleaded not guilty.
Judge Anne Shields told the court that the evidence against the three is “very strong,” and the crime was a “well planned and violent attack” in broad daylight before remanding them without bail after prosecutors argued they posed both a danger to the community and a serious flight risk.
And despite the serious charges against them — facing deportation and up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted on the top count — Mejia-Nunez didn’t seem too worried about his predicament.
As his attorney and an interpreter were explaining the case to him before the judge took the bench, the 29-year-old was barely listening and kept his eyes trained on his wife in the gallery — blowing her kisses, smiling, winking and seductively raising his eyebrows at her while his attorney spoke.
The woman was later spotted laughing in the courtroom after all three were remanded.
Family members of the three alleged thieves later threatened reporters outside of court.
