A Freeport man pleaded guilty Friday to stealing a Hicksville resident’s vehicle at gunpoint and then intentionally crashing into a police vehicle after officers had trapped him in Fayette Elementary School's parking lot.
According to police, Remick Menjivar, 19, pleaded guilty this morning to first-degree robbery and second-degree assault in exchange for a promised prison sentence of 14 years from Judge William Donnino.
The Nassau County District Attorney’s office advocated for a 20-year prison sentence. He will be sentenced on March 15.
Just before noon on March 20, 2012, Menjivar and another man, Edwin Flores, 21, of Hicksville, approached a male victim standing in his Hicksville driveway. Menjivar pulled out a black 9 mm Republic Arms semi-automatic handgun and demanded the victim’s keys, wallet and cell phone. Menjivar then got into the victim’s 2006 Infiniti G35 and fled the scene, followed by Flores in a black 2011 Toyota Corolla.
Responding police officers soon located the stolen Infiniti and attempted to pull Menjivar over. Menjivar attempted to evade officers and pulled into the parking lot of the Fayette Elementary School in North Merrick.
Menjivar, trapped in a parking lot with only one exit, accelerated at an approaching police car and crashed head-on into it and then into the school building. Menjivar tried to flee after the crash but was immediately apprehended. Several officers were injured, one of whom suffered a serious head injury.
Flores was located and arrested in Freeport. The Corolla he was driving had been stolen during a March 16, 2012 carjacking in Bellerose. Flores pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and is awaiting sentencing.
“A violent criminal with his back against the wall is a very dangerous thing, especially one armed with a firearm and a stolen vehicle,” District Attorney Kathleen Rice said. “These dedicated officers, however, thought not of their own wellbeing but of the safety of the community, and stood their ground.”
Assistant District Attorney Everett Witherell of the DA’s Major Offense Bureau is prosecuting the case. Menjivar is represented by Michael Albert, Esq.
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