Venezuelan migrant Bernando Raul Castro Mato, who entered the U.S. illegally nearly a year ago before finding shelter in Queens, allegedly robbed women while riding illegal scooters with his accomplices.
Photos courtesy of the NYPD
A Venezuelan migrant is expected to be arraigned Wednesday morning for his alleged involvement in a shootout with police in East Elmhurst during the early morning hours of Monday, June 3. He will be criminally charged from his hospital bed at New York-Presbyterian where he is currently recovering from surgery after getting injured during the gunfight.
Charges are still pending against 19-year-old Bernardo Raul Castro Mato, according to an NYPD spokeswoman, who was shot in the foot after he allegedly shot Officer Richard Yarusso, 26, in his bullet-proof vest and his partner, Officer Christopher Abreu, also 26, in his leg, just before 2 a.m. on Monday.
Castro Mata, who, according to police, entered the U.S. illegally last July via the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass, Texas—a hotspot for record-high migrant crossings—and subsequently moved to Queens. He resided at The Landing Family Shelter, housed in the former Marriott Courtyard Motel on Ditmars Boulevard near LaGuardia Airport. Castro Mata allegedly engaged in criminal activities, targeting women in various Western Queens police precincts alongside two accomplices, utilizing illegal scooters and mopeds for mobility.
The two cops from the 115th Precinct public safety unit were canvassing the area near Vaughn College when they came across Castro Mata along 23rd Avenue and 89th Street as he rode in the wrong direction on the one-way street. They pulled him over and Castro Mata ditched his ride and made a run for it, exchanging gunfire with the cops during a foot pursuit that culminated with all three men being struck by bullets.
Castro Mata was taken into custody and his illegal .380 handgun was recovered at the crime scene half a mile away from The Landing,…
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