First dumped, then Maced; Craigslist user testifies of Village engagement ring heist

First dumped, then Maced; Craigslist user testifies of Village engagement ring heist

  January 10, 2011    Dapper_Don

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Jilted and heartsick two years ago, all salesman David Cushman wanted was to sell his ex-fiance's $30,000 engagement ring on Craigslist and move on with his life.
Instead, he told a Manhattan jury today, he wound up Maced in the face in a Christopher Street vestibule by the thieving thug named "John" who answered his ad.
"I was not able to see, I was coughing, I felt like I wanted to puke...I felt like I'd put my head in an oven," Cushman, 31, told the jury of the spritz-and-swipe scheme of alleged Ring Worm Gerard DeGerolamo.
Fortunately, Cushman had no idea at the time that DeGerolamo, 67, was a Lucchese associate, as FBI sources have told The Post.

Gerald DeGerolamo, seen here heading to court in 2009.

 

Nor did he know that DeGerolamo had allegedly tried to pull a similar theft -- sans Mace -- on a 33-year-old woman selling two diamond rings on Craigslist that her husband, who she was divorcing, had given her, a case to be tried later this year.
"He was targeting individuals who were selling expensive jewelry on Craigslist, and those individuals were going through a traumatic time in their lives," prosecutor Steve Pilnyak had said last week in a pre-trial hearing.
Cushman -- who testified he'd been lured to the Christopher Street location by DeGerolamo's tale of having a daughter who lived there and who would broker the deal -- said he wound up tackling DeGerolamo and getting the ring back despite the Macing.
DeGerolamo is looking for a break by insisting he's just a peaceful ring thief who shouldn't be charged with violent robbery. He faces up to 15 years if convicted.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/first_dumped_heist_maced_craigslist_Kek7T1BJVGE5d3WhU2AsSM#ixzz1AgJlD161