Freed creep Anthony Ibanez accused of attempting to rape NYC teen has larceny charges dropped
The creep accused of trying to rape a teenage girl while he was out with no bail on reduced petty larceny charges caught another break Friday — when prosecutors dropped the theft case against him.
Manhattan prosecutors asked to dismiss the petit larceny charges against Anthony Ibanez because they were “unable to contact” the two complaining witnesses in the case.
Ibanez, 32, and a Taser-wielding accomplice were accused of storming into a Hell’s Kitchen deli on May 25 and stealing a tip jar that had about $7 inside, according to court documents.
Cops initially charged Ibanez with robbery — but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office downgraded the charges to petit larceny, which isn’t eligible for bail under New York State’s controversial criminal justice laws.
Ibanez is still facing charges in the shocking attack of a 15-year-old girl outside her apartment building in the Parkchester section of the Bronx early Wednesday as the teen tried to track her AirPods using her cellphone, sources said.
Ibanez allegedly shoved the girl to the ground at around 2:40 p.m. and threatened, “I’m going to take you to quiet place and f—k you,” according to the criminal complaint against him.
An unidentified good Samaritan stopped the attack and cops nabbed Ibanez later when he walked into the 43rd Precinct claiming to be a victim of an assault, sources said.
After Ibanez was let back onto the streets on the petit larceny case in May, he was arrested again July 15 for allegedly snagging about $50 worth of items from a 7-Eleven in Lower Manhattan, sources said. He was given a desk appearance ticket on that case but never showed up to court, prompting an arrest warrant that was issued on Aug. 4, sources said.
A man who answered the door at Ibanez’s apartment Friday and identified himself as Eric said he only learned of the incident when he saw The Post’s front page coverage of Ibanez’s arrest Friday.
“I just seen the newspaper just now,” said Eric, who described Ibanez as a high school friend. “I didn’t know where the f—k he was at. I saw the newspaper with his face in the middle of it.
Eric said it wasn’t like his friend to attack someone, but the man had been “going through some problems.”
“I don’t know what made my friend do this, but this is not like him,” Eric said. “I never thought I would ever see something like this or hear something like this. This s—t is kinda scary. But it is what it is.”
Eric has been staying in the filthy apartment – strewn with food waste, utensils and clothes — for several days, he said. The unplugged refrigerator was crawling with maggots.
The dingy digs belong to Ibanez’s mother, who is in a nursing home, he said. Ibanez’s problems culminated with a small fire in the apartment caused by a candle next to a Catholic shrine in the living room, Eric said.
“He had a mental problem. He suffers from staring seizures – it’s where you stare at something for so long to the point you just drop,” Eric claimed.
“When he was younger, his mother dropped him multiple times on his head,” he added.
“He suffered that staring seizure problem for years. And he hasn’t been on his medication forever. He’s 32 now and for some years he hasn’t been taking his medication.”
Ibanez’s bedroom was enough to “prove he’s going through a mental breakdown,” Eric said.
“In his room, you will see how his mental problem is. It has a pissy, fishy smell,” Eric said. “There’s piss in that cup right there. He was living like this for years.”
Ibanez is due back in court in The Bronx Monday, facing charges of attempted rape and sexual abuse.
