Police busted a Bensonhurst man April 11 who allegedly masqueraded as a cop and committed five robberies of Bensonhurst and Coney Island businesses early this month.
Camilo Arcelay, 36, was nabbed near his home on Bay Ridge Parkway after a stakeout and a brief foot chase, a police spokesman said.
Cops said the first in the string of heists occurred at 2 pm April 6, when Arcelay allegedly entered a laundromat at 20th avenue and 74th street wearing a police patch on his shirt, swiped $300 from the cash register and stole a patron’s wallet and cigarettes.
Arcelay struck again at 9 am April 8, according to police, when he entered a bodega at West 21st street and Mermaid avenue in Coney Island wearing a t-shirt with a New York Police Department logo. He allegedly identified himself as a police officer and slipped behind the deli’s counter, claiming he had to check for untaxed cigarettes, but instead stole several packs of smokes and $2,500 from a cigar box on a shelf behind the counter before fleeing the store and jumping into a car. According to cops, the bodega cashier chased him, and even jumped into the car in an effort to wrestle the cigar box back, but the bandit shoved him out of car and drove off.
The third robbery happened at 8 am April 9, police said, at a deli on New Utrecht avenue in Bensonhurst, when Arcelay allegedly flashed the police patch on his shirt and frisked the deli’s workers before grabbing nine packs of cigarettes and nearly $1,000 from the cash register.
Authorities said Arcelay allegedly promoted himself on April 10, when he walked into a grocery on 86th street near 20th avenue, announced that he was a detective and “inspected” several cartons of cigarettes while snatching $562 from the register.
The last in the spree of robberies occurred at 1 am April 11 at a deli on 18th avenue near 64th street, police said, when Arcelay once again impersonated a police officer and demanded cash, but fled empty-handed when the counter clerk refused to hand over any.
Authorities said Arcelay was charged with four counts of robbery and four counts of criminal impersonation, and said the investigation is ongoing.
