Two men have been arrested after New York City authorities said they emerged from a manhole near a Manhattan hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regularly stays during the United Nations General Assembly.
Police said the men’s presence in the city’s underground sewer system was not connected to Netanyahu or the hotel. Instead, investigators believe the suspects were part of a broader pattern of people entering New York’s sewers in search of valuables and scrap metal that collect in the underground system.
The suspects, Queens residents Kevin Rodriguez, 26, and Samuel Reveron, 25, were charged with criminal trespass. They were later released following their arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
The incident drew heightened attention because of its proximity to a sensitive location during the UN General Assembly, when security measures across New York are significantly increased.
The New York Police Department and US Secret Service reviewed surveillance footage, license plate reader data and other investigative tools as they worked to identify the people who had entered the sewer system.
According to law enforcement officials, detectives also conducted door-to-door inquiries along Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan after witnesses reported seeing three men enter two vehicles shortly after 4 a.m.
Investigators obtained an image of the license plate of one of the vehicles and entered it into the NYPD’s license plate reader system.
The system provided information about the vehicle’s movements, including when it arrived at and left the Park Avenue location.
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Detectives also identified the vehicle’s registered owner and obtained body camera footage from previous traffic stops involving him.
Police later went to the address where the vehicle was registered and monitored it until the suspect approached. He was subsequently taken into custody.
It was not immediately clear whether Rodriguez and Reveron were arrested together or separately. Police said additional suspects were still being sought.
Brian Kennedy, an attorney for Reveron, denied any connection between his client’s alleged conduct and the United Nations or any international government officials.
“It’s entirely plausible” that someone could enter the sewers in search of valuables, Kennedy told CNN, adding that “desperation leads to great efforts.”
The arrests come amid a series of reported incursions into New York’s sewer and underground tunnel systems in recent months.
Residents have recorded videos of people entering or emerging from manholes during the early morning hours, sometimes wearing hip waders and boots.
Detectives said suspects arrested in some of those cases told investigators they had entered the sewer system to search for valuables such as gold chains and rings, as well as metals including copper that could be resold.
What initially raised concerns for the NYPD and US Secret Service over a possible national security threat or involvement by foreign agents or terrorists ultimately appeared to be linked to an unrelated pattern of underground searches for valuables.
CNN
