At a press conference on Tuesday, New York City Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and NYPD Chief of Detectives James W. Essig, announced that NYPD detectives had arrested the remaining suspect in a series of drugging’s and bar robberies.

The string of drug-facilitated robberies of men who visited gay bars in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood had resulted in two deaths, and had the city’s LGBTQ community on edge for months.

Sewell thanked NYPD detectives and department personnel along with the Bragg’s office for their assistance in investigation that ran 11 months from Sept. 19, 2021, to Aug. 28, 2022. Essig recounted that his detectives worked on solving the string of 17 similar incidents noting that the victims were offered drugs or marijuana that had been laced, after which the suspects were able to gain access to the victim’s phones and then transfer money from them into accounts under the control of the perpetrators.

Essig then noted that there were two overdose cases resulting in the deaths of 33-year-old D.C. resident and political consultant, John Umberger, who died on May 26, 2022, and Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker who died on April 21, 2022.

The New York City Medical Examiner ruled that both deaths were homicides on March 23, 2023 and caused by a “drug-facilitated theft.” Multiple drugs were found in both men’s systems, including fentanyl, lidocaine and cocaine.

Robert Demaio, 34, was indicted on murder and robbery charges last month, surrendered to police at the NYPD’s 5th Precinct in Chinatown two weeks ago. Another alleged robbery crew member, 30-year-old Jacob Barroso, turned himself in.

Today’s arrest announcement regarded Jayqwan Hamilton, 35, who was arrested on Monday and is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, grand larceny and identity theft.

The arrests of all three men, plus two more allegedly connected to the 17 cases, has given New York’s Hell’s Kitchen LGBTQ community some relief although bars and restaurant owners have told various media outlets in the city that their wait staffs and bar personnel remain vigilant.

“This investigation took a long time, but I think the results speak for themselves, that everything was done to make sure we held those accountable who committed these crimes,” Sewell told reporters.

“The defendants had no regard for whether victims ever recovered from being drugged,” Bragg added. “Their motive, we allege, was simple — to make money. The defendants use these substances as weapons to incapacitate their victims, giving them an opportunity steal their phones and credit cards.”

Essig told reporters that once the victims were “incapacitated to the extent that their ability to perceive events became diminished,” according to an indictment, the five co-conspirators would then steal their victims’ cell phones and credit cards and use the physical cards and information stored on the victims’ phones to transfer money to themselves and make purchases. 

Regarding the resulting trail of evidence against the suspects, Essig noted; “Among the results returned were two videos depicting Hamilton and DeMayo in the victim’s apartment. In another, the victim is seen on the bed, apparently unconscious, in the same pose as he was later found deceased.”

Hamilton, who was arraigned Tuesday, is due back in court on June 8.

Watch as Sewell, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Bragg provide a case update:

The woman caught on a restaurant’s security video surveillance system early Monday morning intentionally setting ablaze its LGBTQ Pride flag has been arrested and charged.

Angelina Cando, 30, was arrested Tuesday on charges of arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, all with hate crimes enhancements a spokesperson for the New York Police Department said Wednesday.

A local building superintendent who knew the suspect told the Daily News she had a history of homophobic run-ins. Love Texidor, the superintendent in a building on Mott Street, a half-mile from the restaurant where the arson occurred, added that Cando lived there with an apparent boyfriend. “She wasn’t a tenant, just the crazy girlfriend of a tenant,” Texidor said.

In a video tweeted by openly gay New York City Councilman Erik Bottcher, (D-District 3) and also released by the New York Police Department a raven/red haired female is seen getting out of the passenger side of a white SUV. The suspect then lit the flag on fire, then got back into the SUV. The SUV driver then sped away, heading west on Prince Street toward MacDougal Street, according to a NYPD press release.

New York City Fire Department units responded to fire at the Little Prince restaurant on Prince Street near MacDougal Street and extinguished the fire, which damaged the exterior of the building. According to the NYPD the establishment was closed, but an employee told investigators that one worker was still inside cleaning at the time and saw a woman get out of a car and set the flag on fire. NYFD also evacuated residents of the building with no injuries reported and there was not structural damage.

The New York City Police Department, (NYPD) confirmed that a series of robberies committed at The Eagle NYC, a Chelsea gay leather bar last Fall, had the three victims losing thousands of dollars after the criminals used facial recognition to access the victims’ phones.

NBC News Out correspondent Matt Lavietes reported the three men, who were in their late 30s and 40s, visited The Eagle NYC, on separate nights in October and November and were each robbed of $1,000 to $5,000, according to the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of public information. 

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, authorities said.

Capt. Robert Gault of the city’s 10th Precinct, who spoke about the incidents at a police community council meeting last week, told NBC News that NYPD investigators believe the criminals used facial recognition to access the victims’ phones and funds once they were incapacitated.

“What we think is happening with this scheme is they’re being lured away from the club, maybe to say, ‘Hey, you wanna come with me? I got some good drugs,’ or something like that,’” Gault said. “And then, once they get into a car to do whatever it is that they’re going to do, at some point or another, they don’t know what happened when they wake up.”

Criminals use facial recognition to patrons at NYC gay bar: