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Political implications mount as suspects in Times Square attack on NYPD face judge
By
Matt Katz
and
Samantha Max
Published Feb 16, 2024
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NYPD Crime Stoppers
By
Matt Katz
and
Samantha Max
Published Feb 16, 2024
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Eyes are on a Manhattan courtroom after a controversial decision to release a group of migrants accused of scuffling with police in Times Square last month. A judge will again face a decision on Friday about whether to hold five people indicted in the case while their cases are pending.
Three of the suspects are currently in custody and are expected to be brought to court by authorities — two are detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on unrelated civil violations, and one is jailed after he was rearrested on a minor charge in Queens. One has been on supervised release and another was released from jail after posting bail.
After a video showing a group grabbing and kicking two NYPD officers outside a migrant shelter on 42nd Street last month went viral, a judge’s decision to initially release four of those charged fueled an already fiery debate about how to address the growing number of migrants coming to New York City.
The incident garnered national attention, and law-and-order conservatives viewed it as an example of criminal activity by migrants and lax bail laws. Even Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, criticized the releases. Whether the freed individuals, Yohenry Brito and Yorman Reveron, show up to court at all on Friday could have larger political implications.
Gothamist put together this explainer about the intersection of federal immigration policy, state criminal laws, and local politics swirling around the incident.
Why were some people initially released after they were arrested?
In this case, everyone charged was accused of crimes serious enough that acting state Supreme Court Justice Marisol Martinez Alonso could have set bail when they first appeared in court. But she initially chose to hold only one person in jail on $15,000 bail. Four were released without any conditions set.
Police officials said those four got on a bus to California after their release. But the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has faced criticism for not requesting that the judge keep all the defendants in jail, says it has no evidence that anyone has left the state. Attorneys for several of the defendants have also denied those claims.
Some have since been taken back into custody, including one person who was arrested this week on charges that he served as a lookout during a robbery in Queens and two who were detained by ICE.
Judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys all play a role in deciding whether someone charged with a crime should be held in jail pretrial if their charges are eligible for bail. Prosecutors and defense attorneys both get a chance to suggest to the judge whether to keep them in jail or release them while their case works its way through the courts. The judge then determines what conditions are necessary to ensure someone will return for future court dates.
How common is it for New York Judges to release people accused of assaulting police officers?
Data from the state Office of Court Administration crunched by the Albany Times Union shows that New York City judges often release those alleged to have assaulted a police officer. From January 2020, when the initial bail reform law went into effect, through this past June, judges chose not to set bail almost two-thirds of the time.
Martinez Alonso, the judge who initially released several of the defendants in this case, has actually set bail at one of the highest rates citywide for charges of assaulting a police officer, according to the Times Union’s data analysis. She set bail in 18 of 22 cases during a recent 30-month period, according to the newspaper.
Police say the defendants in this case recently migrated to New York. How does the court system work differently for people who have not obtained legal residency?
Laws around pre-trial detention and sentencing are not applied differently to immigrants without legal status. But any non-citizen convicted of a crime, regardless of severity, can be deported.
Police and several elected officials have urged the federal government to deport the defendants if they are convicted.
“If they're found guilty and they do their time they should be deported,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a recent press conference. “You should not be allowed to walk the streets of the city of New York if you are committing any form of criminal behavior that's impacting the quality of life of New Yorkers.”
For now, the defendants are all presumed innocent under U.S. law.
How did Immigration and Customs Enforcement get involved in this case?
When the NYPD tracked down one of the accused at an apartment in the Bronx on Tuesday, ICE was also there on its own investigation, according to Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Carlos Nieves. ICE agents then arrested two defendants in the case — Kelvin Servita-Arocha, 19, and Wilson Omar Juarez-Aguilarte, 21 — and held them on immigration violations.
In their criminal case, neither man is accused of making physical contact with officers at Times Square. Servita-Arocha, who allegedly kicked an officer’s radio, faces second-degree assault and second-degree obstructing governmental administration. Prosecutors say Juarez-Aguilarte swapped clothes with co-defendants after running away from the scene, and a grand jury indicted him on one count of tampering with physical evidence and another count of hindering a prosecution in the third degree.
Both men had been arrested shortly after the incident following a foot pursuit by the NYPD, released, and then rearrested by ICE at the apartment in the Bronx.
The Venezuelan nationals are members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, according to ICE spokesperson Marie Ferguson. She did not respond to a question about whether this alleged affiliation was related to their detention.
It is unclear why ICE and the NYPD were at the same apartment making different arrests. New York’s status as a sanctuary city limits, but doesn’t fully ban, cooperation between the NYPD and immigration authorities. NYPD officials have said they do not ask people’s immigration status or alert ICE if they think someone isn’t a citizen.
Servita-Arocha had a warrant out for his arrest on immigration violations, according to ICE.
Juarez-Aguilarte was ordered removed from the country by an immigration judge in Texas last year.
Immigration violations don’t automatically mean detention and deportation, but criminal charges often do. Both men are being held north of the city at the Orange County Jail, which contracts with ICE to hold people awaiting removal from the country or challenging orders of deportation. They are due in criminal court on Friday.
Immigrants convicted of crimes and sentenced to prison generally finish their time behind bars before being moved to immigration detention to await deportation.
Where does bail reform fit into this?
A series of bail reform measures passed by New York lawmakers in recent years limited who could be held in jail before a trial or plea. The changes were intended to stop holding certain alleged offenders for months and even years at Rikers Island and other jails solely because they couldn’t pay money for their release.
Bail reform barred judges from setting money bail for many types of crimes, particularly nonviolent ones. Those laws have been adjusted over time to allow judges to set bail in more types of cases after backlash from law enforcement and tough-on-crime politicians.
What happens if they don’t show up to court?
Defendants who don’t appear in court can be charged with bail jumping, and law enforcement can issue a warrant for their arrest. Missing a court date could also prompt judges to set stricter conditions, such as requiring that defendants be held in jail while their case is pending.
Tagged
Times Square
public safety
manhattan
Matt Katz
Matt Katz is a former WNYC & Gothamist reporter.
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Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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