A Brewster man faces a stack of criminal charges after two separate arrests within an 18-hour span on September 29, one tied to an alleged assault at a Lake Carmel gas station and the other to an alleged groping aboard a Metro-North train. Diego Rodriguez-Ordonez, 24, was taken into custody both times by Putnam County authorities, who say the second arrest ended only after deputies deployed a Taser.
According to midhudsonnews.com, Rodriguez-Ordonez allegedly assaulted a clerk who tried to stop him from stealing merchandise at a Sinclair gas station in Lake Carmel. Sheriff's deputies later located him hiding in a swampy area near the station and took him into custody. Kent Police charged him with robbery and assault in that case, and separately with felony criminal mischief connected to an incident at a nearby bank, the outlet reports.
Second Arrest Hours Later at the Train Station
The same day, according to News 12 Hudson Valley, police say Rodriguez-Ordonez forcibly touched a woman on a train at the Southeast station. The outlet reports the second arrest came just hours after the first, within the same 18-hour window authorities described. Per midhudsonnews.com's account, deputies moved in near the train yard, but Rodriguez-Ordonez refused repeated commands and resisted arrest, prompting them to deploy a Taser before taking him into custody.
He was charged with forcible touching, obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest and criminal trespass in connection with the train-station incident, the same report states. Rodriguez-Ordonez was arraigned in Southeast Town Court and remanded to the Putnam Facility on bail, according to the same account.
Putnam County's Stance on Immigration Cooperation
The arrests arrive against a backdrop of ongoing friction over local immigration enforcement policy in New York. Guidance from the New York Attorney General's office states that local law-enforcement agencies have the authority to honor or decline an ICE or CBP request to detain, transfer or allow access to an individual in their custody.
Putnam County has taken its own position on the matter. A county legislative document says Executive Order 3 declares Putnam County a “rule of law” county and states definitively that it is not a “sanctuary” county, according to the Putnam County Legislature. A separate county article notes that County Executive Kevin Byrne highlighted a 2023 state-of-emergency declaration formalizing cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Broader claims about Rodriguez-Ordonez's immigration history, prior arrest count and criminal record circulated following reporting by the New York Post, though those specific details were not independently verified through the primary law-enforcement sourcing reviewed for this report.
