The New York City Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is searching for a man suspected of molesting a 5-year-old girl near a government-funded immigrant shelter in midtown Manhattan.
Local New York news source 1010 WINS reported that the girl and her mother, whose identities have not been released by authorities, are residents of a New York City-funded immigrant shelter located in the former Roosevelt Hotel.
A representative from the New York City Police Department’s Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Affairs confirmed the investigation to Fox News Digital. A representative told FOX News Digital that the incident occurred around 7 p.m. on Dec. 24, about a block away from the Roosevelt Hotel at 5th Avenue and 46th Street.
Blue states face surge in immigrant sex crimes as top cities pledge to resist Trump deportations
A police officer takes security measures as migrants wait to be admitted to a shelter outside the Roosevelt Hotel in New York on August 2, 2023. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Representatives declined to provide any information about the suspect’s identity or say whether he was also a resident of the Roosevelt Hotel Immigrant Shelter. However, according to 1010 WINS, the suspect knows the girl and her mother.
The radio station reported that the girl was taken to Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital on suspicion of molestation.
Dubbed by some as a “modern-day Ellis Island,” the Roosevelt Hotel was converted by New York City into an immigrant shelter and processing center in May 2023 amid a surge of immigrants flooding the city. The hotel has reportedly become a hub of immigrant gang activity in New York City, resulting in a spike in violence and crime in the area.
Illegal immigrant gang members behind robbery remain out of prison due to age
A still image from a social media video shows a suspected juvenile member of the Roosevelt Hotel-based Torren de Aragua, who is said to have committed a series of robberies in nearby Times Square. (Obtained by New York Post)
Click to get the FOX News app
New York City police have not said whether the suspect they are looking for is a member of the notorious Venezuelan gang Torren de Aragua or another gang. Torren de Aragua has a strong presence in the hotel’s neighborhood.
On December 5, 17-year-old Yeremi Corino, a member of the Torren de Aragua gang Diablos de la 42 (Devils of 42nd Street), was allegedly stabbed to death during the crime. Confrontation with rival gangs.
Another migrant, 18-year-old Allan Magares Bello, was stabbed along with Corino, but survived.
Peter Pinedo is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
Source link
