Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Wednesday refused to answer questions about how his progressive new policies let a career criminal walk free on mere misdemeanor charges for an alleged armed robbery.
Arriving to his office in Lower Manhattan early Wednesday, the new top prosecutor was grilled on The Post’s front-page story about William Rolon, the wanted ex-con whose armed robbery charges were downgraded to misdemeanors as per Bragg’s “Day One” memo.
“I’m not going to discuss an open matter. Thank you,” he told The Post before walking into his office.
The Manhattan DA’s press office has repeatedly ignored questions about Rolon’s case and the decision to downgrade charges.
Bragg, however, stood by the polices that have sparked backlash starting on his very first day in office on Jan. 3.
“We’re going to keep on doing the right thing the right way and doing our job,” he insisted Wednesday morning when asked about “all the controversy” from his statements about plans to keep more criminals on the street.
Bragg also touched on his “productive” meeting with new NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell — who told her officers that she was concerned Bragg’s policies could them in harm’s way — to discuss “concerns.”
Asked if they were on the “same wavelength,” Bragg pointed to the statement released Tuesday following the sit down, saying, “We issued a joint release, which speaks for itself.”
Bragg’s “Day One” memo detailed his plans to stop seeking prison sentences for hordes of criminals and to downgrade felony charges in cases including armed robberies and drug dealing.
Those policies directly led to the reduction of charges for Rolon, a 43-year-old career criminal who allegedly threatened a Lower East Side Duane Reade store worker with a knife after she saw him filling a plastic trash bag with more than $2,200 worth of items.
He was arrested when he went back to the same store to allegedly steal more items later the same day.
Cops charged Rolon with first-degree robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in the first incident, sources said.
But when he was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court early Sunday, the robbery charge was dropped by prosecutors and he was instead charged with two counts of petit larceny and related low-level offenses, including second-degree menacing, court papers show.
Former Manhattan assistant district attorney Daniel Ollen called Bragg’s policies “an affront to every law-abiding citizen in New York City.”
“Violent criminals now have carte blanche to re-offend, knowing full well that they will never again sniff the inside of a jail cell,” he told The Post, adding, “God help us.”