Man Who Robbed Woman, 72, at Knifepoint in Greenvale Gets Prison Sentence

The Bronx man accused of putting a knife to a 72-year-old woman’s throat and stealing her jewelry in Greenvale in May has been sentenced to seven years in prison, acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced Thursday.

Benis Solis, 24, of the Bronx, was also sentenced to five years of post-release supervision. He pleaded guilty to first degree attempted robbery on Aug. 24.

On March 17, the victim was putting packages into her car in the T.J. Maxx parking lot, located at 90 Northern Boulevard, at 6:30 p.m. when Solis grabbed her from behind, put a kitchen knife with a 6-inch blade to her throat, pushed her halfway into the car and demanded the ring from her left ring finger, police said.

When the woman was unable to quickly remove the ring, Solis bit her finger to get the piece of jewelry off her hand, police said. The bite caused her bleeding and bruising.

The robber fled the scene on foot.

Authorities were able to identify Solis thanks to DNA evidence taken from the woman’s finger. Solis was arrested at his home in the Bronx on May 13 without incident.

The ring was not recovered.

“Crimes against the elderly are especially despicable and I’m glad that our partners in the Nassau County Police department were able to use DNA to identify this menace, and track him down so that he can be held accountable,” Singas said in a statement.

Image via NCDA