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Westchester Teen Arrested For Central Park Robbery Spree
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 6, 2010
Modified Aug 6, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 6, 2010
Modified Aug 6, 2010
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A suburban teenager was apprehended for the Central Park robbery spree that began just before midnight on Wednesday night. Jesse Wasserman, an 18-year-old New Rochelle resident, was identified by three victims, while his accomplice is still at large. Apparently they would pretend to be lost and ask for directions: "Once the victims were distracted, one suspect would pull out a gun while the other suspect would rob them."
One of the victims told the Post, "I was riding my bicycle on East Drive around 11:35 at night. Two guys approached me and asked for directions. One of them pulled out a gun and said, 'Drop your bike and give me your money.' I didn't have any money so I dropped my bike and ran." The Post, which adds that Wasserman once attended the $42,500/year Vermont Academy, reports the other robberies were at East 84th Street (a wallet and cellphone were taken) and near East 81st Street (the haul: a backpack, cellphone, credit cards and jewelry).
Wasserman was nabbed when a person called the police, suspicious that Wasserman had thrown a backpack into the trash. None of the victims were injured; police did find a rubber gun.
A former classmate of Wasserman's said he was "a stuck-up rich boy who had everything going for him and thought he lived a different life. He thought he was cool... Jesse had this vision of himself that he was a gangsta from Harlem, when actually, he was from a rich part of New York."
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new rochelle
robbery
central park
westchester
jesse wasserman
robbery spree
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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