Maple Commons visitor charged with gun possession crimes was an earlier defendant in a major gang roundup in New York City. [Updated -- Comment by Village Manager]

Oliver Fernandez's current charges in Croton include criminal contempt for violating a protection order and unlawful dissemination of an "intimate image."

2019 photo

Earlier today we provided additional details to a media release by the Croton Police Department concerning the January 31 arrest of Bronx resident Oliver Fernandez. He was followed by police driving out of Maple Commons after they suspected he had an outstanding warrant, which turned out to be true; after he tried to flee his car was blocked by patrol vehicles. He was found to be in possession of a loaded handgun earlier lost by a Georgia police department.

Since this was a developing story, we provided what details we could to the community as quickly as we could, pending further reporting.

We are now able to provide further information based on a conversation with Asher Stockler, who is currently Director of Public Affairs for the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office (some villagers may recall that Stockler used to work as a reporter for the Journal News and other outlets.)

A number of villagers suspected that Fernandez is the same individual who was arrested in New York City in October 2019 in connection with a major roundup of members of the notorious Trinitarios gang. Stockler confirmed that this is correct. A number of the gang members were convicted for violent crimes, although Stockler was not able to tell us whether Fernandez was one of them. We do have evidence, however, that Fernandez already had an arrest record by this time.

(We will update this information as soon as our reporting allows.)

The Chronicle was also able to obtain further details about the current local charges against Fernandez. In fact, Croton police were correct in stating that a warrant for Fernandez’s arrest had been issued out of the Croton Village Court, on January 27, in connection with charges based on incidents that took place in Ossining. These involved criminal contempt for violation of a protection order, and unlawful dissemination of an “intimate image.” Stockler declined to provide further details about the image and the accusations. As we reported earlier, these charges are pending in Croton Court, and Fernandez’s next appearance there is April 2.

Three criminal gun possession charges are pending in Westchester County Court, along with an additional charge of criminal contempt. The next hearing on those charges is scheduled for March 26.

We earlier cited a statement by Ken Regan, vice-president of Regan Development Corporation—which owns Maple Commons—that Fernandez was not a resident of the complex. We asked him to comment further on what was being done to protect residents and villagers, given the obvious safety issues. He responded as follows:

“This person was not and is not a resident of our building. Every person who moves into Maple Commons undergoes a credit check a landlord tenant check a criminal history check and a sex offender check. We are very careful about who moves into the building. Beyond that, we have no comment.”

We have not yet heard back from Village Manager Bryan Healy to get the village’s perspective and response to similar questions about public safety. We will update this story again as needed.

Update: We have now heard back from Village Manager Bryan Healy:

“The Police Department will continue to patrol and monitor the Village as it does every day. Any resident observing suspicious or concerning behavior should contact the Police Department at 914-271-5177, or 911, if it is an emergency. Beyond that, I have no further comment.”

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