Rondell Smith, a 21-year-old who lives at the Wise Towers on the UWS, was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 33-year-old Upper West Side man while stealing his Kindle and headphones on Thursday. But police say that wasn’t his only crime. In fact, they say he’s been a one-man crime spree this month. Via Gothamist, here’s the list of allegations.
- On February 17th, 2016, at 6:40 a.m., police say a 70-year-old man walking his dogs on West 90th Street was approached by Smith who “asked him what time it was. After being told the time, Smith opened his jacket, revealing the handle of a black firearm. The victim fled and there were no reported injuries.
- February 17th, 2016, at 5 p.m.: A 13-year-old boy walking on West 89th Street was allegedly approached by Smith, who “threatened him with a knife and then removed an undetermined amount of money from the victim.”
- February 18th, 2016, 2:30 p.m.: A 34-year-old man walking on Broadway was allegedly asked by Smith “where Columbus was. The victim told him and Smith replied asking for $50 dollars. The victim said no and Smith threatened to shoot him. Smith then forcibly removed the victim’s wallet from his pants and fled.”
- February 18th, 2016, 4:55 p.m.: A 33-year-old man walking in front of 105 West 88th Street was, the NYPD says, allegedly “approached from behind by” Smith, who then “placed a knife to his neck and demanded his property. The victim complied giving the unknown male his Apple Kindle and Apple headphones, a struggle ensued and the unknown individual stabbed the victim in the upper back.”
- Yesterday, at 2:05 a.m., a 25-year-old man was robbed on the northbound platform of the #2 train at the 96 Street station. Police say Smith was “armed with a box cutter and simulated having a gun, then fled on the #2 train, north bound.” The victim notified police, who apprehended Smith at at 149 Street and Grand Concourse in the Bronx.
Felony Assault With a Deadly Weapon for a used Kindle. What a genius.
Hah, I think that should be an Amazon kindle, not an Apple one
He just couldnt go another day without reading the latest from John grishman.
wow. 21. mom and DAD must be proud!
Guess he wanted to be a well read young lad and the only way to do that was to rob someone because there ARE no libraries in Manhattan or anywhere in NYC for that matter.
This is what happens when stop and frisk goes away….
It’s all good. Now this young man will have all his crimes consolidated by a liberal judge, spend a year or two in prison lifting weights and watching tv with 3 full meals a day, all at our expense, learn more about his craft from others in prison, and then be more careful about the crimes he will commit when he gets out. All part of growing up in the USA.
Why are our tax dollars paying for those convicted for felony/assault to live in projects/subsidized housing? And if they are underage, why don’t we penalize their parents for not keeping tabs of their kids?
Seems like we’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t.
There is a direct cost for subsidized housing. There is an indirect cost of having a criminal be even more desperate as a homeless person in the city, what price do you put on innocent people getting stabbed for $100 in electronics? The highest direct cost is probably paying to incarcerate him in jail.
Despite how quick everyone is to jump to a sound bite, there are no easy answers. The reality is we have to figure out what to do with unproductive (and in this case very violent) people in our society. I suspect if you work it all out subsidized housing is probably the cheapest option since it generally lowers the desperation that drives violence, but I haven’t seen an actual analysis of that. I do know that incarcerating criminals is extremely expensive for taxpayers, so almost anything that keeps people from becoming violent criminals is a net gain for society.