Teen Arrested for Three Knifepoint Robberies

Video of robbery suspect Alfonso Martinez on Oct. 24. Video courtesy of NYPD.

By Christina Carrega

Queens Daily Eagle

A 17-year-old was arrested on Wednesday for sticking up three women and a man at knifepoint in Corona and stealing over $2000 in their property, police said.

Alfonso Martinez was charged with four counts of robbery after sticking up several women between Oct. 24 and Oct. 28. During the first attack on Oct. 24, Martinez placed a knife at a neck of a 50-year-old woman on 40th Drive and removed her purse before leaving with over $1600 in property, police said.

Later that day, Martinez allegedly approached a 41-year-old woman from behind with a knife and stole her cell phone. Martinez, 17, slashed the woman on the upper arm and hand before leaving the scene and ran towards 45th Avenue where he found his third alleged victim. Police released Martinez’s image from a surveillance video nearby this scene.

That victim was a 26-year-old woman who Martinez walked up to and cut her arm while attempting to remove her purse, police said. The woman was taken to Elmhurst Hospital for treatment for a minor laceration.

Martinez, 17, allegedly attacked a 20-year-old man on Oct. 28 with a knife to his neck and demanded his property. The man was cut on his neck before Martinez fled the scene, police said.