Two Man Crime Spree Ends in Deegan Crash

NYPD Releases Chase, Crash Video

Police vehicles approach the van after it crashed into a tree along the Major Deegan Expressway.—Photo courtesy of the NYPD

By David Greene

Bronx Voice
February 23, 2023

BRONX - Two Manhattan men pulled off a one-night crime-spree where they held-up victims within the borders of six different NYPD commands in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. The robbery spree ended with their white van plowing into a tree in University Heights and the suspects are now facing federal charges.

Police officials reported that between just before 1:00 a.m. and just after 3:00 a.m. on January 31, the assailants participated in six gunpoint robberies in the 110th, 108, 94, 116, 66 and 34th Precincts.

One police official said at the time, "There were six total gunpoint robberies committed by two males," and fled each crime in a white Toyota Sienna minivan.” The official added that no serious injuries were reported and, in each case, personal property, cash and or jewelry was removed from the victims.

The official continued, "And then at 4 a.m. (NYPD) Aviation observed the vehicle at Cedar Avenue and West 179 Street where it crashed. A 34-year-old male was taken into custody at the scene, a firearm was recovered in the glovebox. A 24-year-old male fled the location on foot but was apprehended in the courtyard of 1991 Sedgwick Avenue and charges are pending on both" men.

Police would later announce that the suspects, identified by police as Alvin Velez, 34, of East 108 Street and Carlos Perez, 24, of Broadway, both of Manhattan would be charged federally as part of "larger pattern-related" case against both men

The U.S. Attorney's office has not yet responded to a request for comment regarding this case.

On February 1, the NYPD released a video shot by NYPD's Aviation Unit that clearly shows two or three police vehicles in pursuit of the van, when one police car appears to clip the van, which veers off the highway and slams into a tree. Both men scramble from the truck attempting to flee arriving officers.

With what appears to be an uptick in police vehicle pursuits, an NYPD official was asked if the new License Plate Readers (LPRs) played a role in this apprehension, the official replied, "I don't know that.”