A pack of teenagers with possible ties to local Tren de Aragua offshoot Little Devils of 42nd St. jumped an 18-year-old man in lower Manhattan and robbed him of a single sneaker, police sources said.
The victim was walking near Whitehall and Pearl Sts. in the Financial District just before 4 p.m. when a gang of about 15 youths approached him, police said. One member of the pack menaced him with a knife while another flashed a gun, before some of the youths held him down and stole a sneaker off the victim’s foot before running away, according to police.
Cops are searching for the suspects, who were last seen running north along Whitehall St., police said.
Police did not immediately have information on the type of sneaker that was stolen.
At least some of the robbers are believed to have ties to Diablos de la 42 (Devils of 42nd St.), a youth offshoot of Tren de Aragua, according to police sources.
Last week cops arrested a 12-year-old boy with purported Tren de Aragua ties for his role in a Times Square attack on a pair of NYPD police officers who were protecting two other kids from being robbed.
The notorious Venezuelan gang has come under renewed fire amid President Trump’s sweeping deportation agenda, with federal authorities recently announcing the arrests of more than two dozen New York City Tren de Aragua members on federal murder, racketeering, drug and sex-trafficking charges.
Originally Published:
