{"id":113189,"date":"2026-01-26T20:25:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/113189\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T20:25:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:25:25","slug":"i-have-no-idea-what-that-means-stickup-man-who-terrorized-staten-island-refuses-court-appearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/113189\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I have no idea what that means.\u2019 Stickup man who terrorized Staten Island refuses court appearance"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Citing an inexplicable illness, a Staten Island man convicted of armed robbery<\/a> refused to appear in court last week for a pre-sentencing conference. <\/p>\n

Michael Mendez, 36, of Veterans Road West in Charleston, pleaded guilty in March to first-degree robbery in connection with a pair of knifepoint robberies two years ago in Eltingville. <\/p>\n

He was due back in court Thursday. However, when the bus from Rikers Island arrived at the building, he wasn\u2019t on it. <\/p>\n

\u201cI see he\u2019s refusing to attend because he\u2019s not doing well,\u201d said Justice Mario F. Mattei, before turning to defense attorney Mark Fonte for answers. <\/p>\n

\"JusticeJustice Mario F. Mattei said Thursday he would reach out to the Auburn Correctional Facility about Mendez’s refusal to appear in court. (Steve White for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea what that means,\u201d said Fonte. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a health issue … I don\u2019t have any further information.\u201d <\/p>\n

Fonte went on to explain that state correctional facilities don\u2019t allow for scheduled FaceTime calls, as is the case on Rikers Island. \u201cI haven\u2019t received any (telephone calls) from him.\u201d <\/p>\n

The missed court appearance was Mendez\u2019s second in recent months. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time he was supposed to be here he said he had a stomach problem,\u201d said Mattei. <\/p>\n

Fonte asked if the sides could approach the bench. <\/p>\n

\"MarkIn this Sept. 14, 2023 photo, attorney Mark Fonte speaks during a hearing in state Supreme Court, St. George. <\/p>\n

After a brief conference, Mattei concluded he would reach out to Auburn Correctional Facility upstate where Mendez already is serving a 16-year prison sentence for an armed robbery in Brooklyn. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf a force order is necessary I\u2019ll ask about that,\u201d said Mattei, before adjourning the proceedings to Feb. 24.<\/p>\n

\u2018Give me all your s\u2014’ <\/p>\n

In the summer of 2024, the defendant allegedly threatened the lives of two robbery victims in a span of an hour. <\/p>\n

In each incident, Mendez wielded a knife and snatched a gold chain from his victim. Both incidents occurred in broad daylight in Eltingville, and both victims told police Mendez was a stranger. <\/p>\n

\"KnifepointProsecutors said it was an afternoon in June 2024 when Mendez threatened an 18-year-old man with a knife near Richmond and Wilson avenues in Eltingville, before snatching the man’s chain.(Google Maps)<\/p>\n

It was around noon on June 2, 2024 when Mendez approached an 18-year-old man along the 3800 block of Richmond Avenue near Wilson Avenue, in the vicinity of an Italian market. <\/p>\n

\u201cGive me all your s—,\u201d Mendez allegedly stated, before taking the man\u2019s chain, along with his wallet and cash. \u201cIf you tell anyone about this, I\u2019ll kill you and your whole family,\u201d Mendez allegedly threatened. <\/p>\n

Approximately 30 minutes later, on a residential block near Genesee and Pompey avenues, the defendant \u2014 who was listed in jail records at 5 feet, 9 inches and 200 pounds \u2014 approached a 36-year-old man. <\/p>\n

Mendez, who had the knife clipped to his pants pocket, allegedly gestured toward it while demanding the victim\u2019s belongings. <\/p>\n

\u201cGive me all your stuff or I\u2019ll kill you,\u201d Mendez allegedly stated, before taking the man\u2019s chain. <\/p>\n

Caught with stolen debit card: D.A. \"ArrestedThe defendant, according to prosecutors, was caught with a stolen debit card near Richmond Avenue and Arthur Kill Road, approximately 30 minutes after carrying out the second of two knifepoint robberies in Eltingville.(Google Maps)<\/p>\n

Approximately 30 minutes after the second robbery, at about 1 p.m., Mendez was caught with a stolen debit card in the vicinity of Arthur Kill Road and Richmond Avenue, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Authorities said that when Mendez, who had prior convictions, was questioned by police, he provided a false name and date of birth. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Citing an inexplicable illness, a Staten Island man convicted of armed robbery refused to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-113189","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}