Richard Olmino
Two men charged with sexually assaulting teens in three separate June incidents in Rye, North White Plains
On Aug. 14, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced the arraignments of two men charged on indictments with sexually assaulting teenagers in three separate incidents during June in Rye and North White Plains.
DA Rocah said: “We are committed to supporting and assisting these young victims of sexual violence and seeking full accountability of the defendants. Meanwhile the vigilant work of our local police and the DA’s Office investigators continue to keep Westchester safe.”
People v. Richard Olmino
Richard Olmino, 21 of Port Chester, was charged in an 18-count indictment returned by a Westchester County Grand Jury, with sexually assaulting two teenagers during two separate June attacks in Rye. The defendant was arraigned on Aug. 8 before Westchester County Court Judge George E. Fufidio on the following charges:
· Attempted Rape in the First Degree
· Attempted Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree
· Two counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree
· Four counts of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree
· Endangering the Welfare of a Child
· Four counts of Robbery in the Third Degree, a sexually motived felony
· Two counts of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree
· Three counts of Unlawful Imprisonment in the Second Degree
According to the indictment, on June 23 at approximately 12 a.m., the defendant allegedly threatened a 16-year-old jogger in Rye Town Park saying he had a knife before tackling her to the ground, exposing himself and sexually assaulting her. A security guard in the area interrupted the attack and the defendant allegedly fled the scene leaving behind his phone.
City of Rye police, assisted by county police and federal agents, utilized the defendant’s phone to identify and locate him leading to his arrest on June 24. At a June 25 arraignment in Rye City Court, Judge Valerie A. Livingston remanded the defendant to Westchester County Jail as he had two open warrants in Connecticut for public lewd acts and a pending criminal case in Suffolk County.
DNA evidence from the June 23 incident linked the defendant to a June 3 incident where, at approximately 1:36 a.m., the defendant allegedly sexually assaulted an 18-year-old who was walking home from an after-prom party in the vicinity of Rye High School.
Prosecutors charged the defendant, who remains in custody, for both June incidents in the Aug. 8 indictment in Westchester County Court. His next court date is Aug. 22.
The case is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Division Sex Crimes Bureau Assistant District Attorney Mollie O’Rourke and Special Prosecutions Deputy Division Chief Michelle Lopez.
People v. Jose Mejia Lopez
In an indictment returned by a Westchester County Grand Jury, Jose Mejia Lopez, 32, was charged for attacking a teenager at knifepoint in North White Plains and forcibly kissing the victim before fleeing and resisting arrest. He was arraigned Aug.14 before Westchester County Court Judge Susan Cacace on the following charges:
· Sexual Abuse in the First Degree
· Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree
· Unlawful Imprisonment in the Second Degree
· Menacing in the Second Degree
· Assault in the Second Degree
· Resisting Arrest
· Escape in the Third Degree
According to the indictment, the defendant grabbed an 18-year-old who was walking with two friends to the North White Plains MetroNorth station on June 22 at approximately 4p.m. and forcibly kissed her while pinning the victim against a wall by her neck and holding a knife to her throat. The attack was captured on surveillance video.
Upon obtaining information that the defendant may have fled the scene on a Westchester County Beeline No. 6 Route bus, White Plains police stopped the bus headed to Yonkers on North Broadway and removed the defendant. After his arrest, the defendant escaped from police custody. Following a short foot pursuit, during which a police officer was injured, the defendant was apprehended
Police recovered a pocket knife from underneath a seat in the bus near where the defendant had allegedly been seated.
Bail was set at $50,000 cash/$100,000 bond/$500,000 partially-secured bond. The defendant remains in custody at the Westchester County Jail. His next court date is Aug. 29.
The case is being prosecuted by Sex Crimes Bureau Chief Wendy Parra and Assistant District Attorney Jessica Taylor, both of the Special Prosecutions Division.
The District Attorney thanked the City of Rye Police Department, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, the FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force, Criminal Investigators in the Special Prosecutions Unit of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and the White Plains Department of Public Safety for their work in both investigations.
The charges against the defendants are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
