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Thief, who Stole E-Scooter From 7-Year-Old, Apologizes

Thief, who Stole E-Scooter From 7-Year-Old, Apologizes

By Yehudit Garmaise

     Daniel Ufares, the 59-year-old who stole the electric scooter of then 6-year-old Simcha Rottenberg, was walked out of the 66th Precinct, after he was arrested and charged with robbery and criminal possession of stolen property.

     This morning, the police officers arrested Ufares, who, on July 7 at 7:24pm, pushed Rottenberg off the e-scooter, where he was riding it near his home on 12th Avenue, near 36th Street, before the perpetrator stole the e-scooter and rode away with it down 12th Avenue.

     Police detectives picked up and arrested the perpetrator at his home at 575 Central Ave., #307, sources told BoroPark24.

     This morning on Twitter, Shomrim tweeted “ARRESTED!! Thank to the #TeamWork among, the NYPD66Pct, NYPDDetectives, and our Shomrim volunteers, this man was taken into custody this morning.”

     Mayor Bill de Blasio, also tweeted his gratitude that Ufares was arrested and charged on two counts.

     On July 13, on Simcha’s 7th birthday, at the 66th Precinct, police officers, NYPD Community Affairs Inspector Ritchie Taylor, Misaskim Founder Yanky Meyer, Yonasan Schwartz, the owner of Toys 2 Discover, and Mike, and the owner of Dunn Co. Safety, which trains OSHA workers, pooled their resources to the now-7-year-old with a new scooter.

     “They are nice people to have me in mind,” Simcha told his father, Rabbi Pinny Rottenberg, that day.

     "I am glad that they were able to bring the perpetrator to justice," Rabbi Rottenberg told BoroPark24. "Number One: He doesn't belong in my neighborhood, and Number Two: He is a drug dealer, and he is on parole, so he has no right to be on the streets."

    When asked about how Simcha is doing, Rabbi Rottenberg said that his young son is "still a little afraid to go out now, but he is going to get over it."

     Today, as police officers escorted Ufares out of the 66th Precinct, reporters asked him pointed questions, such as,  “Why did you steal a scooter from a 6-year-old?"

     “What were you thinking, Daniel? Come on: a six-year-old kid. What did you need it for?” another reporter asked.

     “Are you looking forward to going back to prison?” another reporter asked. “You have already been there four times, right?

     “Do you have anything to say to the kid?” the perpetrator, who had remained silent, was asked.

     From the darkness of the backseat of the patrol car, Ufares's voice, with plaintive desperation, was heard.

     “I’m sorry,” he said, hopelessly, from the blackness.

Photos by: Dovid Jaroslawicz


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