Bizarre Start of New Year: Man Nabbed for Stealing Ornament From Gracie Mansion
A suspect connected to the odd early-morning break-in, 20 year-old Michael Aromando, is a resident of the Upper East Side. He filmed the act himself, cops say, and showed officers footage of the act.
A young man living on the Upper East Side has been arrested in connection with the strange theft of a Christmas ornament at Gracie Mansion on New Year’s Day, police said.
Twenty year-old suspect Michael Aromando, a resident of 444 East 82 Street, has been hit with an attempted burglary charge after being arrested on site. His bail was set at $5,000 by a judge. He was also given an 11 p.m. curfew, and told to avoid Gracie Mansion.
Aromando allegedly filmed the odd stunt at the NYC mayor’s residence himself, cops say, after scaling a perimeter fence just before 4:30 a.m. He reportedly found the ornament in a drawer, and walked through at least one bedroom. Cops added that nobody, including including Mayor Eric Adams, was home at the time. Hizzoner had been ringing in the New Year at Times Square, and was apparently still out and about.
The suspect was reportedly captured on surveillance footage, prosecutors said.
Aromando showed a detective footage of himself removing the ornament from the drawer, the Manhattan DA said. Several other items were “recovered from his person” at the NYPD’s 19th Precinct, including the ornament.