Cops last night busted a Long Island City man who allegedly went on a wild carjacking and robbery spree that prompted a massive manhunt stretching from Queens to New Jersey.
Suspect Nicholas Almonte, 27, was taken into custody at about 6 p.m., police said.
Almonte was charged with five counts of robbery with a firearm, three counts of robbery with a motor vehicle, one count of attempted robbery with a firearm, one count of attempted robbery with a motor vehicle and one count of unlawful imprisonment.
Almonte first stole a black Mercedes at gunpoint at 9:37 a.m. on Borden Avenue near 25th Street in Long Island City, a short distance from his home, cops said.
A witness said he pointed a handgun — possibly a pellet gun or fake — at the driver and forced his way into her car.
“I see a man with a gun force his way into the passenger side of a black Mercedes,” said Donnell Mayo, 50, whose wife works at the nearby Fresh Direct warehouse.
Authorities said the terrified victim fled the vehicle near Queens Plaza and Almonte quickly ditched the car.
He then allegedly tried but failed to take a Ford van before carjacking a man’s Lexus at Thompson Avenue and Van Dam Street at 10 a.m. That car was found a short time later at 38th Street and Hunters Point Avenue.Minutes later, Almonte allegedly tried to steal car keys from a woman walking her dog near 50th Avenue and 39th Street, but fled after she told him she didn’t have any.
Then, at 10:20 a.m., Almonte robbed cash from a trucker at 38th Street and Hunters Point Avenue, cops said.
Ten minutes later, another man said the gun-toting suspect confronted him at 39th Street and Greenpoint Avenue and carjacked his 1996 gold Mercedes C280, which has not been recovered.
Police said no shots were fired in any of the incidents.
Undercover cops also staked out a house — possibly his mother’s — in Jersey City, where they believed he might have been headed, though he had not shown up by late afternoon.
A pal said Almonte has a history of mental illness.
“He has mental problems, I know he takes meds for them,” said Michael Stacey, 47, a fleet manager for Swing Staging, where the suspect worked. “But when he’s off his meds he goes off the wall.”