Man who targeted Macy’s gets 8 years in prison
A Columbia County man was sentenced to 8½ years in state prison on Wednesday for a spurt of criminal activity that saw him target the same Macy’s twice and ended with him crashing his car near Albany International Airport.
Tyler Meltz, 28, threatened an in-store security guard at Colonie Center Macy’s at knifepoint in order to steal hundreds of dollars of merchandise on June 13, 2021, according to the Albany County District Attorney’s Office.
Yet while Meltz was out on bail the following January, he stole a vehicle from the area of 406 Albany Shaker Road, which online maps list as a Stewart’s, and went back to the same Macy’s to again commit an armed robbery, officials said.
The connection between the two incidents and why Meltz repeatedly targeted the Macy’s is unclear.
“We don’t know why he went back to the same location,” said Darrell Camp, a spokesman for the county District Attorney’s Office.
After fleeing Macy’s, Meltz led Colonie police on a chase in the stolen vehicle, which he crashed through the airport barrier and then abandoned before being taken into custody.
Meltz, of Hillsdale, pleaded guilty on March 9 to first- and second-degree attempted robbery, felonies. He was also sentenced in Wednesday in Albany County Court to five years of post-release supervision and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution to the owner of the stolen vehicle.