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Man Convicted of Stonewall Inn Beating Arrested for Stealing Watch: Police

By Nicholas Rizzi | December 18, 2014 2:28pm
 Christopher Orlando, who pleaded guilty to beating a man at the Stonewall Inn in 2010, was arrested again for stealing a friend's watch, prosecutors said.
Christopher Orlando, who pleaded guilty to beating a man at the Stonewall Inn in 2010, was arrested again for stealing a friend's watch, prosecutors said.
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DNAinfo/Josh Williams

STATEN ISLAND — A Staten Island man who pleaded guilty to attacking and robbing a man inside the Stonewall Inn bathroom was arrested again Tuesday for stealing and pawning his friend's watch, prosecutors said.

Christopher Orlando, 21, was arrested with Jonathan Rauchet, 31, on Wednesday after they stole their friend's Breitlang Super Avenger watch from his basement apartment on Colon Avenue in November, court papers said.

Later that day, the pair headed to Top Dollar Pawn Brokers, at 1730 Richmond Ave. and sold the watch for $2,200, a law enforcement source said. The watch costs about $4,000 new.

In 2010, Orlando admitted to attacking a 34-year-old man from Washington, D.C., with a friend, while shouting homophobic slurs in the bathroom of the landmark gay civil rights spot the Stonewall Inn.

Orlando, who prosecutors believed held down his victim while his friend punched him, pleaded guilty in 2011 and was sentenced to 60 days in jail for the crime.

Rauchet and Orlando were charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of a stolen property at their arraignment on Wednesday, according to the Staten Island District Attorney's office.

Rauchet's lawyer, Paul Capofari, said his client told police he didn't know the watch was stolen but had a drug problem and needed help.

Orlando's lawyer did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The two men were released without bail and are due back in court on Jan. 9, 2015, according to court records.