Bronx Couple Charged in Armed Home Invasion in Yorktown
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A Bronx couple was indicted earlier this month on charges related to a violent armed home invasion and robbery in March in Yorktown where they repeatedly assaulted a woman.
Darling Read, 35, and Jovanda Paredes, 29, were arraigned before Judge Susan Cacace July 5 in Westchester County Court after being indicted by a Grand Jury on four counts of Burglary in the First Degree, three counts of Robbery in the First Degree, two counts of Criminal Use of a Firearm in the First Degree, two counts of Assault in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree, all felonies.
“This alleged violent home invasion by a former intimate partner and his accomplice is a stark reminder that domestic violence knows no boundaries and can take many different forms,” said Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah. “Our Domestic Violence Bureau is dedicated to vigorously prosecuting the most violent cases in any form while ensuring survivors receive full support and assistance.”
According to Rocah, on March 17, 2023, at approximately 2:42 a.m., Read and Paredes unlawfully entered a Yorktown home where the victim, Read’s ex-girlfriend, was staying. The defendants woke the victim and chased her into a bathroom where they repeatedly kicked and punched her in the head and body and prevented her from leaving.
The defendants also hit the victim in the head with a hard object and were armed with an un-serialized semi-automatic pistol, known as a ghost gun, that they used to threaten the victim. They are also charged with stealing two iPhones.
The Yorktown Police Department arrested the defendants in the Bronx within hours of the incident, following an investigation with the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force.
With assistance from the NYPD, Yorktown police executed a search warrant on a storage unit in the Bronx rented by Paredes, where police recovered the gun used during the alleged incident. Police also obtained surveillance video of the defendants entering and leaving the residence and storage facility the night of the alleged incident.
Read was indicted on an additional charge of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, a felony, while both defendants were also charged with Unlawful Imprisonment in the Second Degree, a misdemeanor.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
