Man mistaken for NYC burglary suspect turns out to be wanted in groping attack

The Bobster

Senior News Editor since 2004



Man mistaken for NYC burglary suspect turns out to be wanted in groping attack​



By
Joe Marino and

Jorge Fitz-Gibbon


November 22, 2022 6:44pm
Updated










Manhattan cops thought they nabbed a wanted burglar last week, only to realize they had the wrong guy — who was actually a suspect in a sexual assault, police sources said.
Warren Oates, 40, was allegedly spotted rolling a joint on Eighth Avenue Saturday and detained by cops — who mistook him for Shawn Tattnall, a suspect in a July 13 burglary, according to the sources.
The arresting officers realized their mistake when Oates gave them his name — and then found out the suspected burglar’s doppelganger was instead wanted for allegedly groping a 23-year-old woman in Manhattan on Oct. 23.
Oates is accused of grabbing the victim from behind on the corner of West 26th Street and Sixth Avenue and fondling her, according to the criminal complaint against him.
He allegedly ran off, but not before a bystander shot a photo of him, prosecutors said.
After he was arrested on Saturday, Oates allegedly gave the cops some lip at the precinct, telling a female arresting officer to “get away from me” because he was getting “aroused.”
Warren Oates, 40.Warren Oates, 40, was mistaken for a wanted burglar — then charged in a groping case.
He was charged with sexual abuse and forcible touching and is currently being held at Rikers Island on $2,500 bail, records show.
In a bizarre twist, the suspected burglar, Tattnall, was already behind bars — apparently unbeknownst to the Manhattan cops who thought they saw him when approaching Oates.
Records show that Tattnall has been held on $10,000 bail at Rikers Island since he was busted on robbery and grand larceny charges on July 15.
He is accused of stealing a cell phone from a sleeping straphanger at the West 4th Street and Sixth Avenue subway station that day, according to the criminal complaint against him.
Shawn Tattnall.Shawn Tattnall, who is jailed on a robbery charge, was also sought for an alleged Greenwich Village attempted burglary on July 13.



The incident he was still being sought for was an attempted burglary at a Greenwich Village apartment building on July 13, two days before the bust that got him jailed, according to the sources. He has not been charged in the case.


Cops had also hit Oates with a resisting arrest rap, but the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office did not pursue that charge, prosecutors said.
 
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