Croton Cycle Shop Robbery Starts 2-Year Crime Spree

A 21-year-old who continued to commit crimes as he accumulated felony charges was sentenced today to two to six years in prison. The sentencing is the culmination of a prosecution spanning nearly two years, according to Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr.

Devon Sherman, 21 of Mount Vernon, New York, had pleaded guilty on Sept. 27 to:

• two counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the First Degree, class “C” Felonies,
• one count of Burglary in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony,
• one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony,
• one count of Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle in the Third Degree, a class “A” Misdemeanor.

Sherman committed crimes as he accumulated multiple felony and misdemeanor charges throughout the County including burglarizing a bicycle store, possessing and passing counterfeit money at two gas stations, and stealing a car and transporting it to another location, where it was stripped.

Sherman’s crime spree began on July 30, 2015, when he and a co-defendant broke the window of a closed bicycle store located in Croton-on-Hudson, entered and stole merchandise. Using his own name and phone number, he later tried to sell one of the items he stole, a one-of- a-kind bicycle, on Craigslist. In addition, Sherman and his co-defendant smashed the outside surveillance camera and took the surveillance system from inside the store and threw it into a nearby river. All told, they stole and damaged thousands of dollars of property.

While that case was pending, Sherman passed a counterfeit bill on February 9, 2016 at a gas station in Greenburgh. The attendant noticed the bill was fake, but Sherman fled the scene. Hours later, he and a co-defendant tried to use another counterfeit one-hundred dollar bill at a Mobil gas station in Eastchester.

Again, the attendant recognized that the bill was fake and confronted Sherman, who fled the scene in his car. The attendant was able to give Eastchester police a description of the car and the direction of travel and Sherman and his co-defendant were arrested within minutes of the crime.

A month later, on March 7, 2016, Sherman and two co-defendants stole a 2006 Acura in in front of the owner’s condominium in Peekskill. Sherman arranged to have the vehicle transported to Mount Vernon where it was stripped for parts.

The investigation was carried out by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.

Sherman was given into the custody of the state corrections department.