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3 Charged in Armed Hijacking of Apple Devices in New York
Truck Drivers Bound in Trailer as $1.2 Million Shipment Stolen Outside Mall
Key Takeaways:
- Three men face federal charges after allegedly hijacking a truck carrying $1.2 million in Apple products outside a Long Island mall.
- The suspects allegedly bound two drivers and moved the stolen cargo through multiple vehicles to a New Jersey storage site.
- Prosecutors cited surveillance, cellphone data and Apple device records as evidence and said one driver freed himself and called 911.
Two truckers were left bound in a trailer during an armed hijacking of $1.2 million in Apple products at a Long Island mall, with three undocumented men facing federal charges.
The alleged perpetrators — Alan Christopher Cedeno-Ferrer, 27; Michael Mejia-Nunez, 29; and Ennait Alexis Sirett-Padilla, 24 — are facing criminal charges filed by the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York.
The defendants were arraigned using a Spanish interpreter before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields and indicted with Hobbs Act robbery, Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property.
The Hobbs Act prohibits an actual or attempted robbery or extortion that in any way impacts interstate or foreign commerce.
The accused were declared a significant flight risk by the Justice Department because of the severity of the charges, long prison terms of 30 years if convicted and being Dominican Republic nationals who illegally entered the United States.
“These individuals came into Nassau County and committed a robbery with weapons that put people in fear. We didn’t stop pursuing them until they were brought to justice,” said Patrick Ryder, county police commissioner.
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This image of Ennait Alexis Sirett-Padilla (left) and Michael Mejia-Nunez and was taken from video surveillance that was obtained from a self-storage company in Paterson, N.J. (U.S. Department of Justice)
The crime occurred Jan. 3 around 8 a.m. as the unidentified truckers waited outside the Americana Manhasset shopping mall for an Apple Store to open. Their truck was loaded with MacBook laptop computers, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and accessories. The stop was the day’s first delivery with two others scheduled for New York mall stores, according to court documents.
Three masked men with handguns drove up in vehicles, forced one driver into the back of the trailer and zip-tied his hands. The second driver was forced at gunpoint to drive the truck a half-mile to an isolated parking lot near an office building. There, he was ordered into the trailer and bound.
The semi was followed by two cars and a rented Home Depot box truck and allegedly loaded with the stolen cargo eventually taken to a self-storage location in Paterson, N.J.
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Alan Christopher Cedeno-Ferrer is alleged to have negotiated the purchase of the handgun used in the cargo heist. (U.S. Department of Justice)
“After being terrorized and abducted by masked gunmen, the victims were left for dead, zip-tied and locked in a freezing truck, with temperatures in the 20s. Thankfully, one of the victims broke free from their restraints, preventing a tragedy,” court records stated. That driver called 911 from inside the closed trailer.
Law enforcement officers apparently tracked the Home Depot box truck and another vehicle allegedly used through GPS location data, red-light cameras and license plate readers as the vehicles drove along major roads, expressways and bridges through Nassau County, Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan and in New Jersey.
Cedeno-Ferrer was accused of renting the Home Depot truck using a fake Pennsylvania driver’s license, and his fingerprints reportedly were on a copy of the rental agreement found inside the rental truck, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Sirett-Padilla allegedly rented a storage unit in his name and provided his Dominican Republic passport as identification. The storage unit was used to transfer the stolen Apple products from the Home Depot box truck to a U-Haul truck and a car.
A grand jury indicted the three suspects May 5 in the Eastern District of New York.
Prosecutors' Evidence
- Video surveillance
- Cellphone location data indicating Mejia-Nunez and Sirett-Padilla traveled at relevant times from New Jersey to the Manhasset area on Long Island and to Paterson, N.J.
- Records from Apple Inc. allegedly showing on Jan. 4 and Jan. 7 that Cedeno-Ferrer activated two Apple Watches among the stolen cargo
Three Men Indicted for the Armed Hijacking of a Delivery Truck Loaded With Apple Products at the Americana Manhasset Mall on Long Island https://t.co/9quXrrpq8r — US Attorney EDNY (@EDNYnews) May 7, 2026
Court records also cited audio and chat records from WhatsApp supposedly between Cedeno-Ferrer and a handgun seller. Information exchanges included photos of pistols. The seller allegedly was instructed to deliver a gun to a New York address that prosecutors contend is the same mailing address Sirett-Padilla gave to immigration authorities in “his pending immigration proceedings,” records state.
Announcing the charges with the U.S. attorney’s office were the FBI’s New York field office and Nassau County Police.
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Alan Christopher Cedeno-Ferrer allegedly negotiated the purchase of the smaller handgun in the upper left corner of the photo above. (U.S. Department of Justice)
“The defendants allegedly held two innocent employees at gunpoint before hijacking and robbing their delivery truck out of selfish greed,” noted James Barnacle Jr., FBI assistant director in charge. “The FBI remains in lockstep with our local law enforcement partners to stop violent criminals from wreaking havoc on our communities.”
