Rockland men charged in Christmas Day bar hold up in N.J.

BY BILL DEMAREST

HAWTHORNE, N.J. – Two Rockland County men were among five people arrested this week in an investigation of a Christmas Day robbery of a bar, according to police.

Police said Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta, 18, of Suffern, and Oscar Alvalos-Cortez, 21, of New City, were linked to the armed robbery at RD Benders Tavern as the bartender was getting ready to open on Christmas morning.

The bartender was robbed of his phone, a charger and about $200 from the bar’s cash register, according to Hawthorne police.

A six-week investigation that including police from Hawthorne, Ridgewood, Waldwick, Bergen and Passaic counties prosecutors’ offices, the FBI and New York State Police led to the arrests on Wednesday.

Also arrested were:
– Wilber Jonathan Barahona, 20, of Ridgewood
– Jostin Vidal Reyes, 21, of Waldwick,
-A16-year-old from Waldwick.

They and Carrillo-Iraheta were charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault, weapons possession and theft. Avalos-Cortez was charged with a single count of armed robbery.

Bail was set at $250,000 for Avalos-Cortez and $300,000 for Barahona, Reyes and Carrillo-Iraheta. Avalos-Cortez was ordered held at the Passaic County Jail.

Barahona, Reyes and Carrillo-Iraheta were ordered held in the Bergen County Jail in connection with another investigation by Ridgewood police in connection with an incident involving armed robbery, kidnapping and carjacking.

Originally published by Nyack Free Press