P’ville Police Arrest Man for Making False Robbery Claim
A 33-year-old Queens man who fabricated a story to Pleasantville police about being robbed at gunpoint was arrested on Wednesday, one day after police briefly detained another man based on the claim.
Christopher Mercado was charged with third-degree falsely reporting an incident after he claimed to village police that he was approached and robbed on Marble Avenue near Hopper Street by a 19-year-old Bronx man on Tuesday, according to police.
Pleasantville police, with the assistance of the Mount Pleasant Police Department, located the Bronx man on Broadway in Thornwood and took him into custody. Mercado positively identified the man who had robbed him.
County and state police K-9 officers searched for the handgun that was reported to have been used in the robbery but could not find one, police said.
Mercado’s story began to unravel when investigating detectives then became suspicious of his story. After ensuing interviews with witnesses and watching surveillance video from nearby businesses, detectives concluded that there were inconsistencies in Mercado’s story, said Pleasantville police Lt. Erik Grutzner.
When he was confronted by police, Mercado admitted to making up the story and was arrested.
The Bronx man was released without being charged, he said.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/