Story by Ethan
On December 24th, 2025, the arrest of Rasi Vendryes, age 48, was announced by Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Rasi Vendryes was charged with first-degree Sexual Abuse, second-degree Kidnapping, second-degree Strangulation as a Sexually Motivated Felony, second-degree Robbery as a Sexually Motivated Felony, and other unspecified charges. The arrest and charges against Rasi Vendryes were a result of an investigation handled by New York City Police Department Detective Denis Regimbal of the FBI-NYPD Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, Lieutenant Amy Morin, Inspector Gary Marcus, Human Trafficking Unit Social Worker Raquel Alger, Office Manager Aurora Martinez and Paralegal Aaliyah Antrobus, Senior Assistant District Attorney Grace Hogan, and Office Manager Brenda Campbell of the Law Enforcement Assistance Unit.
According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, at approximately 3 a.m. on December 31st, 2023, Rasi Vendryes was stationed near Malta Avenue in his parked grey Sprinter-style van when the victim approached him. The victim, who was engaging in sexual acts in exchange for money, talked with the defendant and the two agreed to meet up. The victim had entered Rasi Vendryes’ vehicle and he allegedly drove them to a secluded area before bringing the victim to the back of the van. This is when she observed several metal chains and bottles of bleach allegedly belonging to the defendant. Allegedly Rasi Vendryes proceeded to strike the victim in the head which caused her to fall to the floor of the van unconscious, sit on her stomach, choke her using his hands, punch her repeatedly, and threaten to kill her if she made any escape attempts. It is alleged that the defendant also sexually assaulted the victim during the interaction while she was struggling with breathing, blurry vision, and lack of feeling in her extremities. After a struggle the victim was able to make her way to the front seat of the van where she observed a knife on the dashboard, then yelling out the passenger side window for help. Allegedly Rasi Vendryes then pushed the partially clothed victim out of the window before driving away with her phone and jacket. The victim proceeded to seek medical treatment nearby with injuries consistent to the assault report, including visible trauma to her head and body. By using the Find My app her phone was able to be located near the defendant’s residence. In August 2024 the victim came in contact with a NYPD Human Trafficking Team detective and reported the incident during outreach on the Penn Track. Approximately a month later in September 2024 the victim saw Rasi Vendryes driving around the same area again when she took a picture of his license plate and was able to identify him in a photo array which led to his arrest.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against Rasi Vendryes are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
