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Man Charged With Falsely Reporting Robbery In Pleasantville

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. -- Pleasantville police charged a Queens man for falsely reporting he had been robbed at gunpoint on Wednesday on Marble Avenue. 

Christopher Mercado was charged with falsely reporting a crime after detectives uncovered that he had not been robbed at gunpoint as he claimed, police said.

Christopher Mercado was charged with falsely reporting a crime after detectives uncovered that he had not been robbed at gunpoint as he claimed, police said.

Photo Credit: Pleasantville Police Department

According to Lt. Erik Grutzner, Christopher Mercado, 33, reported he was robbed at gunpoint on Marble Avenue, near the intersection with Hopper Street, by a man he encountered on his walk to work. 

That man, a 19-year-old Bronx resident, was located by members of the Patrol Division of the Pleasantville Police Department on Broadway in Thornwood. 

He was taken into custody without incident with the assistance of the Mount Pleasant Police Department. He was then positively identified by Mercado as the man who had robbed him, Grutzner said.

K-9 Officers from both the Westchester County Department of Public Safety and the New York State Police assisted in the search for the handgun reported to have been used in the robbery, but a weapon was not recovered, Grutzner said.

Grutzner said investigating detectives soon became suspicious of the alleged victim’s story. After conducting interviews with witnesses and watching surveillance video from businesses located near where the incident was reported to have taken place, detectives noted inconsistencies with Mercado’s original version of events. The other man who had been detained, was released.

When confronted with the information the detectives had uncovered, Grutzner said Mercado admitted to fabricating the story and was arrested.

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