NEW YORK CITY, NY - Police with the New York Police Department (NYPD) shared their frustrations with the soft-on-crime policies plaguing the New York City justice system as a trio of shoplifters with nearly 300 arrests between them keep evading the law.
According to an exclusive report with the New York Post, police said that out of the three, the worst is Ian Mullen, a Queens man with a grand total of 119 arrests since 2000, including three since the month of June. Mullen, who is 49-years-old, has been arrested for 15 felonies, 80 misdemeanors, and 20 violations.
Officials said that Mullen was released back to the streets after his most recent arrest on June 12th, after allegedly stealing $177 worth of merchandise from a Target in Kips Bay because in New York, shoplifting is not a bail-eligible crime. Since 2020, when the bail reform bill was enacted, Mullen has been arrested for shoplifting 35 times.
Another involved in the trio is 38-year-old Joel Hardy has been arrested 103 times with 39 felonies, 50 misdemeanors, and 14 violations since 1999. He was arrested for assaulting an officer at the Port Authority Bus Terminal on July 31st and has been arrested for shoplifting 10 times since 2020.
Also evading the justice system is 47-year-old Muhsin Freeman has 54 arrests with 14 felonies and 39 misdemeanors, with the majority of them since 2020.
Police said that he was arrested in June after allegedly stealing from a Target in Elmhurst 17 different times in two months. Freeman, who has been arrested for petty larceny 29 times since 2020, is currently wanted on a bench warrant for not showing up in criminal court. One frustrated NYPD detective said to The Post, "They are the perfect example of what's wrong with the system right now. This is what police officers are dealing with over and over."
When Freeman was brought into Queens Criminal Court on July 18th for the 17 alleged thefts at Target between April 7th and June 10th, prosecutors asked for a high bail of $25,000. Instead, Queens Criminal Court Judge Edward Daniels released him. Court records show that Freeman failed to show up to court on July 1st on those charges.
A longtime Bronx detective said, "Are we surprised? At some point, the courts have to realize that you can't just keep letting people out." He added, "These liberal judges feel like it's not affecting their community because they don't live there so this is what's going to continue to happen."
Equally frustrated with the broken criminal justice system are store workers and shoppers, some of whom even blamed the businesses for not doing enough to stop the thieves. Shopper Nilda Marimol thinks Target and other stores should take more responsibility in solving the problem saying, "It if was my business, I would be collaborating with a police person and collaborating with the politician in the neighborhood. She added, "Since the city's not helping that much, then Target should do something about it."
Target said that retail theft cost the business between $700 and $800 million just in 2022. The store said it recently instructed its staff to halt shoplifters who try to flee with items totaling $50, down from the previous sum of $100. In 2023, the retail store announced the closure of nine stores across the country, including one in Harlem, due to theft.
Walgreens shopper Ray Ocasio said, "These particular stores need more loss prevention officers. It's ridiculous. They need to fix this issue." Police said that security guards don't always want to stop people because they don't want to have a physical altercation In June, a security guard at a Duane Reade in Midtown was stabbed and seriously injured when he did try and stop a shoplifter.
A Turtle Bay CVS shopper said, "They don't want to tangle with these people. They just stay away from them because they don't want a fight." NYPD data shows that retail theft in Gotham rose 2.8 percent to 37,155 reported incidents so far this year, up from 36,087 at the same time in 2023. Sunnyside resident Liz Segovia, who has seen a CVS and Rite Aid close in recent years said, "The city needs a better way to hold them responsible. If they just get arrested and released, they're obviously going to do it again and again and again."
According to an exclusive report with the New York Post, police said that out of the three, the worst is Ian Mullen, a Queens man with a grand total of 119 arrests since 2000, including three since the month of June. Mullen, who is 49-years-old, has been arrested for 15 felonies, 80 misdemeanors, and 20 violations.
Officials said that Mullen was released back to the streets after his most recent arrest on June 12th, after allegedly stealing $177 worth of merchandise from a Target in Kips Bay because in New York, shoplifting is not a bail-eligible crime. Since 2020, when the bail reform bill was enacted, Mullen has been arrested for shoplifting 35 times.
Another involved in the trio is 38-year-old Joel Hardy has been arrested 103 times with 39 felonies, 50 misdemeanors, and 14 violations since 1999. He was arrested for assaulting an officer at the Port Authority Bus Terminal on July 31st and has been arrested for shoplifting 10 times since 2020.
Also evading the justice system is 47-year-old Muhsin Freeman has 54 arrests with 14 felonies and 39 misdemeanors, with the majority of them since 2020.
Police said that he was arrested in June after allegedly stealing from a Target in Elmhurst 17 different times in two months. Freeman, who has been arrested for petty larceny 29 times since 2020, is currently wanted on a bench warrant for not showing up in criminal court. One frustrated NYPD detective said to The Post, "They are the perfect example of what's wrong with the system right now. This is what police officers are dealing with over and over."
When Freeman was brought into Queens Criminal Court on July 18th for the 17 alleged thefts at Target between April 7th and June 10th, prosecutors asked for a high bail of $25,000. Instead, Queens Criminal Court Judge Edward Daniels released him. Court records show that Freeman failed to show up to court on July 1st on those charges.
A longtime Bronx detective said, "Are we surprised? At some point, the courts have to realize that you can't just keep letting people out." He added, "These liberal judges feel like it's not affecting their community because they don't live there so this is what's going to continue to happen."
Equally frustrated with the broken criminal justice system are store workers and shoppers, some of whom even blamed the businesses for not doing enough to stop the thieves. Shopper Nilda Marimol thinks Target and other stores should take more responsibility in solving the problem saying, "It if was my business, I would be collaborating with a police person and collaborating with the politician in the neighborhood. She added, "Since the city's not helping that much, then Target should do something about it."
Target said that retail theft cost the business between $700 and $800 million just in 2022. The store said it recently instructed its staff to halt shoplifters who try to flee with items totaling $50, down from the previous sum of $100. In 2023, the retail store announced the closure of nine stores across the country, including one in Harlem, due to theft.
Walgreens shopper Ray Ocasio said, "These particular stores need more loss prevention officers. It's ridiculous. They need to fix this issue." Police said that security guards don't always want to stop people because they don't want to have a physical altercation In June, a security guard at a Duane Reade in Midtown was stabbed and seriously injured when he did try and stop a shoplifter.
A Turtle Bay CVS shopper said, "They don't want to tangle with these people. They just stay away from them because they don't want a fight." NYPD data shows that retail theft in Gotham rose 2.8 percent to 37,155 reported incidents so far this year, up from 36,087 at the same time in 2023. Sunnyside resident Liz Segovia, who has seen a CVS and Rite Aid close in recent years said, "The city needs a better way to hold them responsible. If they just get arrested and released, they're obviously going to do it again and again and again."
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Comments
2024-08-21T18:51-0400 | Comment by: Laurence
They should move to Communist California, where they can legally steal up to $900 and get off scot-free!