A group of four migrants that were bused out to New York City after crossing the border into Texas have been arrested for the crime of allegedly carrying out a heist in which they stole close to $12,000 in merchandise from an area Macy’s.
The group — Wrallan Cabezas Meza, 19, Miguel Angel Rojas, 21, Rafael Rojas, 27, and Jose Garcia Escobar, 30 — were officially detained in the wake of being tracked down by police forces out of Nassau County. Allegedly, they fled away from the scene of the crime back on the 9th of January utilizing a 2006 BMW bearing a false license plate.
“All four defendants were charged with Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree. Defendant Meza was issued multiple traffic citations,” explained officials with the Nassau County Police Department in a release. “All four defendants were arraigned on Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at First District Court, 99 Main Street in Hempstead. Defendants Escobar and Rafael Rojas were released with no bail.”
The stolen items were reportedly given back to the store from which they were stolen which was located at the Roosevelt Field Mall in East Garden City on Long Island.
“Here in Nassau County, our police department is going to be vigilant in making sure that anybody who commits a crime is tracked down, caught and arrested,” explained Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman as part of a press conference this past Monday.
The suspects explained to the Spanish-speaking Nassau County detective that they came to New York City via a bus out of Texas, expressed Detective Lt. Richard Lebrun.
The report did not seem to indicate just when the group of men made it into New York City. Meza reportedly made his way across the southern border of the U.S. back on the 4th of July, 2022, with the other three men making their way into the country back in September, according to police officials for Nassau County.
A pair of the men, Miguel and Rafael Rojas, had been staying at the Westin hotel, which is housing other migrants as well, on West 57th Street in Manhattan in the wake of their moving to the city, explained area police.
These arrests of the four migrants ended up being announced shortly in the wake of New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams paying a visit down to the border town in El Paso, Texas, earlier this past month. Adams has made the argument for more federal assistance which would be needed along the border and to assist migrants within his city.
