Suspected assailant of Mexican baker Rodulfo Almedo in custody at the 120th Precinct station, St. George.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Three 17-year-old suspects in the vicious, hate-crime assault of a Mexican baker in Port Richmond were tracked down through a controversial database of people stopped and questioned by police. Tyrone Goodman and Rolston Hopson of Elm Park and William Marcano of West Brighton were questioned during a routine stop-and-frisk in Port Richmond months ago, but were not charged with any crime at the time.
But their names surfaced when the NYPD Hate Crimes division received a tip consisting of the first names and descriptions of the men wanted in the attack earlier this week and officers ran that information through the stop-and-frisk database, cross-referenced with the location of the crime.
Goodman and Hopson were arrested together on the North Shore this morning, while Marcano was taken into custody about two hours later.
A fourth suspect — a 15-year-old juvenile offender whose name wasn’t released by authorities — was picked up this evening.
"It was brutal, savage. Not even an animal is attacked in this manner," victim Rodulfo Olmedo, 26, told news outlets tonight upon his release from Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton, where he had been treated since Monday’s attack. "I think I was racially attacked. I thought I was safe in this neighborhood, but when you least expect it, you are attacked because of your origin or the color of your skin."
It’s expected the suspects will be arraigned tomorrow in Stapleton Criminal Court. Each faces charges of first-degree robbery, robbery as a hate crime, assault as a hate crime, second-degree gang assault, assault, aggravated harassment as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon. The most serious charge carries a minimum of six years and a maximum of 25 years in prison.
Olmedo had left a club in the neighborhood and was steps from the safety of his Port Richmond Avenue apartment about 4:30 a.m. Monday when the four assailants converged on him. They called Olmedo "a [expletive] Mexican" and "a stupid Mexican" before beating him with planks and robbing him of his wallet and cell phone, according to a police report.
"They yelled insults. .... I thought they were going to kill me," Olmedo told reporters, his statements translated from Spanish. "I only remember the pain and that I was trying to save myself. I tried to run but couldn’t."
Olmedo suffered a fractured skull, lacerations of his face and bleeding in his brain. Doctors say it’s possible he will require surgery.
Surveillance video from the Divine Wood Furniture store at 128 Port Richmond Ave. appears to show the four suspects, toting two-by-fours, stalking Olmedo. One appears to drape a metal chain over his shoulder. Moments later, the camera captures the teens fleeing the scene of attack.
While in custody in the North Shore’s 120th Precinct stationhouse in St. George, the teens implicated themselves in the crime, allegedly telling police they were settling a score from an earlier confrontation with Olmedo and his friends, according to a law-enforcement source.
"It’s not fair that this happened because we’re Mexicans," lamented Olmedo’s teary-eyed mother, Margarita.
The arrests came just as elected officials and community leaders gathered at Borough Hall in St. George to denounce violence attributable to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other affiliations. They were joined by Ruben Beltran, the consul general of Mexico, and an agent of the U.S. Department of Justice.
"This type of a crime does not represent Staten Island, it does not represent New York. It represents the small, narrow minds of a few hateful bigots," City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told a group of reporters assembled.
Gonzalo Mercado of El Centro del Immigrante, however, said the attack is not an isolated occurrence in Port Richmond.
"We only hear when something this bad happens. We are hearing from members of the community that this is not an uncommon practice," Mercado said. "[People in] the community are afraid to walk outside after 7 or 8 p.m. Many times, people are reluctant to come to our meetings because of that safety issue."
Some leaders, like the Rev. Terry Troia, executive director of Project Hospitality, expressed frustration that the streets of the North Shore are still unsafe for immigrants, despite all efforts to teach tolerance.
"Relations between people are better, but there are certain groups which, for some reason, we cannot reach," Rev. Troia said.
She and other North Shore community leaders will hold a candlelight vigil for peace at 7 p.m. Sunday near the Cafe Con Pan Bakery, where Olmedo works. They also plan a series of community dialogues at El Centro beginning on April 28, and an open public forum by month’s end.
Ms. Quinn said the Council would examine crime statistics to see if it’s necessary to deploy more police officers in the area — but that could be extremely difficult given the NYPD’s taxed resources.
Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) visited Olmedo in the hospital Thursday night. The father of three told her he is now "very fearful of where he lives and would like to move."
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