Adult Store Clerk Arrested for Staging Robbery & Embezzlement

NEW HAMPTON ― (06-20-19) ― Police have arrested four suspects including an employee of a popular adult store that took place on Tuesday June 18.

Detectives allege that an employee of the Adult World Boutique Located at 5075 NY-17M in New Hampton, staged the robbery to hide embezzlement committed by the employee identified as Venessa Mirabel, 47, of Middletown.

Shortly after 10 a.m. on Tuesday June 18, a 911 call from the employee of the Adult World Boutique, reported that two men entered the store with handguns drawn, demanding cash. The employee said that he gave the robbers approximately $2,800 in cash from the store’s safe.

Adult World Boutique Robbery an Inside Job, say Police

State police responded to the 911 call the armed robbery at the Adult World Boutique. When they arrived on scene, witnesses in the area say that they saw the men exiting the adult store holding handguns and fleeing in a light colored Ford Focus.

After police sent out a city wide bulletin, the vehicle was spotted and stopped by Village of Goshen Police on Route 17m in Goshen. The suspects were immediately taken into custody by troopers and Goshen officers.

The ensuing investigation by the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation determined that the robbery had been staged to cover the previous embezzlement of cash by the employee of the Adult World Boutique, who had originally called 911.

According to police, clerk Venessa Mirabel, 47, of Middletown, had been stealing cash from the adult store for nearly a month. A plan was allegedly hatched with three accomplices to stage a robbery of the Adult World Boutique in an attempt to hide the embezzlement by the employee.

Anthony Williams, 22, Jesse Hocutt, 32, and Sabrina Williams, 25, all of Hurleyville, were arrested as a result of the investigation. Mirabel was the final suspect arrested.

All were charged with counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony, and fifth-degree conspiracy, a misdemeanor. Venessa Mirabel was charged with additional counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, and providing a false written statement, a misdemeanor.

All four were arraigned in the Town of Wallkill Court and remanded to the Orange County Jail in lieu of cash bail.

Detectives say that the investigation is continuing and additional charges are expected to be filed in the case.

Article by: Andy Powell, Staff Writer