Second Suspect In August 2025 Mount Vernon Gunpoint Robbery Located In Poconos, Arrested, And Charged

 

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), James C. Barnacle, Jr., announced that ERIC BOOTHE was arrested and charged as the second participant in an August 29, 2025, gunpoint robbery of a gas station in Mount Vernon.  BOOTHE was presented before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy and ordered detained pending trial.

“Last summer, Mount Vernon residents’ morning routines came to a halt when two individuals robbed a gas station at gunpoint and fled, kicking off a manhunt across the region,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald.  “One of the men, Jamaire Robertson, allegedly shot at NYPD officers while in flight.  Robertson was quickly identified, arrested, and charged within hours, but Eric Boothe allegedly fled into the Bronx and tried to disappear, eventually relocating to rural Pennsylvania.  Thanks to the FBI and our White Plains prosecutors, Boothe’s getaway has ended, and he will now answer to our federal Complaint in court.”

“Eric Boothe spent months attempting to evade accountability following an alleged gas station robbery in August 2025,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr.  “Thanks to the relentless efforts of FBI investigators, and our Summer Heat 2.0 initiative, he was located, apprehended, and will now face consequences for his actions.  No matter how long someone runs, we remain committed to pursuing those who endanger our communities.”

According to the Complaint unsealed in White Plains federal court:(1) 

After spending much of the prior evening traveling in tandem through the Bronx and Mount Vernon, BOOTHE and Jamaire Robertson parked Robertson’s car near Robertson’s apartment in the Bronx at around 5:10 a.m. on August 29, 2025, donned masks, hoods, and gloves, and set off on foot together toward a gas station in nearby Mount Vernon.  At approximately 5:29 a.m., BOOTHE and Robertson, each brandishing a handgun, violently robbed the gas station attendant at gunpoint:

Following the robbery, the two suspects ran south on foot and eventually separated.  Robertson fled down a residential street in Mount Vernon near its border with the Bronx, where he discharged his firearm at New York City Police Department officers attempting to approach him.  Robertson was arrested that afternoon, but BOOTHE fled deeper into the Bronx, ceased use of his phone, and altered his patterns of financial and social media activity, eventually relocating to the Poconos in Pennsylvania.  The FBI’s investigation led to a new phone used by BOOTHE, registered in the name of a third party, and to a pizzeria frequented by BOOTHE in the vicinity of Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, near where BOOTHE was eventually arrested.

BOOTHE, 40, of the Bronx, New York, is charged with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and Hobbs Act robbery, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  BOOTHE is also charged with possessing and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.  Because BOOTHE was convicted in 2016 of the same firearms crime, he now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison, which must be served consecutive to any other prison term imposed.  Federal robbery and firearms charges against Jamaire Robertson remain pending. 

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. McDonald praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force, as well as the NYPD and the Mount Vernon Police Department.  Mr. McDonald also thanked the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for their assistance in apprehending the defendant.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarlitto is in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

1.  As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described therein should be treated as an allegation.