By Thomas Montana
Two alleged members of the international criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, were indicted for an attempted murder and robbery of a woman walking home from work on Front Street in Hempstead in May 2024. This is the first time that members of the organization have been indicted in Nassau County.
On May 22, 2024 at approximately 12:35 a.m., the female victim was coming home from work and got off a bus near a parking lot on Front Street in Hempstead. The woman was walking through the parking lot when Frederick Morillo Chavez and Bernard Raul Castro Mata allegedly came up behind her on a moped. The victim crossed through the parking lot and made her way down the sidewalk when the defendants allegedly circled back around on their moped and followed her.
Morillo Chavez and Castro Mata stopped the moped near the victim where Castro Mata then jumped off and allegedly pointed a gun at the victim. He attempted to take her bags that contained multiple items, including AirPods, a debit card, portable chargers and an iPhone charger.
Castro Mata and the victim allegedly struggled over one bag when the victim screamed and eventually let go. Castro Mata allegedly took the bag and brought it back to the moped, where Morillo Chavez was waiting. He then returned to the victim and grabbed her lunch bag. When the victim would not let go, Castro Mata allegedly shot the victim in the right arm. The victim dropped her lunch bag, and Morillo Chavez sped off with Castro Mata and the two bags.
Both defendants are alleged members of the international criminal organization Tren de Aragua.
Castro Mata had been incarcerated in New York City where he held on charges brought by the Queens County District Attorney’s Office in June 2024 of First and Second Degree Attempted Murder related to a shooting of two New York City Police Officers who attempted to pull him over on a moped on June 3, 2024, less than two weeks after the shooting in Hempstead.
Morillo Chavez was arrested by detectives from the NCPD Third Squad on May 16, 2025. Castro Mata was arrested by detectives from the NCPD Third Squad on June 10, 2025.
Morillo Chavez and Castro Mata were arraigned on a grand jury indictment before Judge Robert McDonald on the following charges:
- Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, a Class B violent felony
- Two counts of Robbery in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony
- Attempted Assault in the First Degree, a Class C violent felony
- Three counts of Robbery in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony
- Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony
- Two counts of Criminal Use of a Firearm in the First Degree, a Class C violent felony
- Two counts of Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony
Two counts of Criminal Use of a Firearm in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony - Robbery in the Third Degree, a Class E felony
- Criminal Possession of a Firearm, a Class E felony
- Menacing in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor
- Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, a Class A misdemeanor
“We have seen an increase in gang activity associated with Tren de Aragua in New York City over the past year, and now, my office is prosecuting the first case associated with this international criminal outfit in Nassau County,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly. “Together with our partners at the Nassau County Police Department, we have stamped out violence from other dangerous gangs like MS-13 and dramatically decreased their presence and their acts of brutality in our communities. Tren de Aragua is no different. My office will aggressively pursue any criminal activity this gang commits in our communities and put their members behind bars.”
Castro Mata was sentenced in the Queens County District Attorney’s case on June 10, 2025 to 28 years in prison.