2-Year-Old Mugged For Pricey Bracelet In New York City
Modern-day thieves obviously have no scruples. On July 6, a 2-year-old and her pregnant mother were assaulted in an elevator by Michael Andrews, a 30-year-old criminal who apparently isn’t above snatching candy from a baby, so to speak. Although the thug’s intentions were initially set upon the girl’s mom, Adriani Espinal, he couldn’t resist snatching the $300 bracelet the child was wearing at the time.
Although Adriani attempted to keep the brute away from her daughter, Destiny Maizanche, the woman was ultimately overpowered by crook. He soon fled the elevator inside the Flushing, Queens apartment building, though he wouldn’t stay free for long. Soon after robbing yet another innocent citizen for $200 and a cell phone at gunpoint, Andrews was picked up by authorities. Adriani wasted no time in picking the fiend out of a line-up.
“He didn’t care that I was pregnant and he was stealing from a little girl,” Espinal explained to the New York Post. “He grabbed my necklace and then he went for the baby. I told him to leave the baby alone because she was crying.”
If the situation wasn’t depressing enough, the snatching of Destiny’s bracelet took place just six days before the little girl’s third birthday. What’s more, the poor child has developed an understandable fear of strangers. However, Adriani’s husband, Romulo Cruz, says Destiny is slowly getting better.
As strange as this scenario may sound, assaults on toddler’s for their expensive jewelry are on the rise in New York City as of late. According to The Christian Post, two men stole a $300 chain and gold medallion from the neck of a 3-year-old boy who was seated in a stroller next to his mother just a few days after the Flushing elevator incident. In short, if you plan to take a trip through the city with your child, you may want to leave the expensive baubles at home. After all, there’s no telling who’s on the prowl for an easy mark.
