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Two groups of manhole divers have been busted for recent underground incursions in Upper Manhattan – as the city’s bizarre subterranean mystery deepens, authorities said.
In one incident, a witness spotted two nightcrawlers entering a manhole on Nagle Avenue near Dyckman Street around 11:15 p.m. Sept. 29, police said.
Responding officers noticed another man sitting inside a car at that location, and swiftly took him into custody, authorities said.
Then, as eagle-eyed cops searched the area, they found two other men who appeared to be wet – and arrested them as well, cops said.
Wilfredo Teran Briceno, 23, Guenis Martinez, 33 and Xavier Guevara Lizcano, 24, were each arrested and charged with criminal trespass, police said.
Martinez and Briceno admitted they went down into the depths “looking for jewelry,” according to a criminal complaint. Lizcano said he was paid $200 to drive them there, the court doc said.
Separately, around 12:30 a.m. Oct. 4, a witness spotted another pair of manhole intruders at West 218th Street and Indian Road, authorities said.
Officers arrived in time to arrest Jean Rosa, 31, and Luis Chaparro, 28, charging both criminal trespass, police said.
All of the suspects in both incidents were released on their own recognizance, as the charges are not bail-eligible.
This year alone, elusive “mole people” were spotted popping out of manholes in Middle Village, Queens, Williamsburg and Gravesend in Brooklyn, on the Upper East Side – and even near Manhattan’s bustling Penn Station and Madison Square Garden.