Cops put cap on robbery spree near Sedgwick Ave.

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A string of robberies in Van Cortlandt Village may have ended after police slapped handcuffs on one of the suspected assailants last week. 

Food delivery drivers have been targeted four times over the past month, police said, typically involving two men who not only stole cash, but sometimes even their bikes. 

It was after one robbery April 19, however, police were able to track one of the suspects down. That suspect, according to Deputy Inspector Terence O’Toole of the 50th precinct, was Kevin Rodriguez, 23. 

It was an unfortunate event for the food delivery robbers because that April 19 attack took place, O’Toole said, while a New York Police Department cruiser already was in the area, and was able to respond to the food delivery robbery almost instantly. 

“I think the deliveryman was actually able to struggle with him for a few minutes,” O’Toole said. 

Rodriquez was identified in lineups the next day for the other robberies, O’Toole said, although court records show he’s been charged for three robberies, not four.

An arrest does not automatically assume guilt, and prosecutors could still be tasked to prove Rodriguez’s involvement in court. 

Cops still are looking for at least one more suspect, O’Toole said. Police have a lead after that suspect was reportedly caught on camera during one of the robberies.

“There is at least one, maybe two other persons involved,” O’Toole said. “We have video on one incident, which is not the person arrested.”

Police claim Rodriquez and his conspirator approached their victims — who typically rode bicycles — from behind, pushing them to the ground.

The delivery drivers would typically head to addresses delivering a phony order, as in the first case where the deliveryman was heading to 2902 Heath Ave., where he was attacked from behind, had $80 taken from him, and was left with a cut over his right eye. 

A second victim was attacked April 9 in front of 3044 Albany Crescent, police said, when the robbers made off with the 31-year-old’s electric bike. 

“They were getting pretty hot and heavy there for a while,” O’Toole said. “I think they did one or two Monday (April 17) night.” 

This most recent spree isn’t the first time robbers have targeted Van Cortlandt Village’s delivery people. In March 2016, two teens were arrested for harassing and targeting the deliveryman of Foo-Hing Chinese Kitchen also located on Sedgwick Avenue.  

The newest string of robberies shouldn’t be cause for alarm however, O’Toole said, adding these types of robberies still are not common. 

“They only did five, you know, relax,” he said. “We’re up a little bit on robberies, but that’s primarily it.”

Kevin Rodriquez, NYPD, deliveryman, robberies, Sedgwick Avenue, Anthony Capote

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