Previously deported Brewster man arrested twice in 18 hours 

A Brewster man who was arrested twice in less than 18 hours Tuesday, Sept/ 29. — first in connection with an alleged robbery and assault at a Kent gas station and later after a woman reported being forcibly touched aboard a train — had previously been deported from the United States and has an extensive criminal history, according to state Assemblyman Matt Slater. 

Diego Rodriguez-Ordonez, 24, has been arrested 16 times since 2024 and has eight criminal convictions, Slater said. The assemblyman also said Rodriguez-Ordonez was deported in 2018. 

Slater, whose district includes much of Putnam County, criticized state immigration policies in the wake of the latest arrests. 

“The facts surrounding the arrests of the repeat criminal by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office prove the flawed system we live under in New York,” Slater said. 

Slater said Rodriguez-Ordonez should face prosecution on the latest charges as well as federal immigration consequences, including deportation. 

“There is no excuse for this individual to be terrorizing our community,” he said. “He should be held to the fullest extent of the law, including deportation.” 

Rodriguez-Ordonez was most recently arrested shortly after 9 p.m. Sept. 29 after Putnam County 911 received a report from a female passenger who said she had been forcibly touched by a man aboard a train at the Southeast train station. The suspect fled before deputies arrived, according to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. 

A sheriff’s deputy located Rodriguez-Ordonez near the train yard, police said. He allegedly refused repeated commands and resisted arrest, prompting the deputy to deploy a Taser before taking him into custody. 

Rodriguez-Ordonez was charged with forcible touching, second-degree obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest, all Class A misdemeanors, as well as third-degree criminal trespass, a Class B misdemeanor. 

He was arraigned in Southeast Justice Court, where bail was set at $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond. 

That arrest came approximately 18 hours after Rodriguez-Ordonez had been taken into custody following an incident at the Sinclair gas station in the town of Kent. 

At about 3:05 a.m. that day, sheriff’s deputies assisted the Kent Police Department after Rodriguez-Ordonez allegedly assaulted a store clerk who attempted to stop him from stealing merchandise, authorities said. 

Sheriff’s deputies found Rodriguez-Ordonez hiding in a swampy area near the gas station and took him into custody. Kent police charged him with robbery and assault. Police also charged him with felony criminal mischief stemming from a separate incident at a nearby bank, according to the Sheriff’s Office. 

Putnam County Sheriff Brian Hess noted that the two arrests involved two alleged victims within an 18-hour period and said Rodriguez-Ordonez had been back on the street only hours after his first arrest