NEW ROCHELLE MAN SENTENCED TO NINE YEARS IN PRISON FOR GUN POSSESSION, ROBBING A MAN AND STEALING HIS CAR

 

Defendant Was Convicted by Jury

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a New Rochelle man has been sentenced to nine years in prison and five years of post-release supervision for gun possession, robbing a man and stealing his car in the Bronx.

 District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant robbed a man and took his car, recklessly driving through red lights and speeding while police pursued him for seven blocks before he crashed into a subway pillar. Officers found a loaded .22 caliber revolver in his possession. If you possess a loaded illegal gun in the Bronx, you face prison time.”

 District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Shamel Rodriguez, 33, last of 72 Drake Avenue, in New Rochelle, NY, was sentenced September 7, 2022 to nine years in prison for second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon and nine years for second-degree Robbery, to run concurrently, and five years of post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Denis Boyle. The defendant was found guilty of the charges on March 18, 2022 after a jury trial.

 According to the investigation, on September 13, 2019 at 4:00 a.m. in the vicinity of Jefferson Place and Franklin Avenue, Rodriguez approached the victim asking for marijuana, then demanded his personal property. After receiving the victim’s car keys, he stole the vehicle and attempted to escape. Officers followed the car and after pursuing the defendant for several blocks as he drove recklessly, the defendant crashed the car into a subway pillar. NYPD officers found Rodriguez in possession of a loaded .22 caliber pistol.

 District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Daniel Banek of the DA’s Squad for his assistance in the case. District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Officer Nadja Brightman of the Bronx Evidence Collection Team, Detective Michael Riggio and NYPD Officer Stephanie Gallardo, both of the Bronx Strategic Response Group, and retired Detective Steven Hearns of the NYPD Ballistics Lab, and NYC Department of Correction Investigator Josiette Mclean for their work in the investigation.