Teen underwear model charged with robbery

NEW YORK, July 17 (UPI) -- A young New York man who worked as an underwear model has been charged with participating in a stickup gang that robbed small stores.

Joshua Walter, 20, was arrested early Thursday with three alleged confederates the New York Daily News reported. Police in Queens said they spotted a van resembling one used as a getaway vehicle in several store robberies.

Walter also became notorious when an elementary school teacher was fired last year for having an affair with him when he was 17. Gina Salamino, who had a child by Walter and is still living with him, was exactly twice his age when the relationship began.

Investigators say Walter and the rest of the gang were responsible for at least 15 robberies between June 14 and July 8, hitting stores and gas stations in Brooklyn and Queens in the early morning hours. When police tried to pull over their van, the men abandoned it, trying to escape on foot.

A .380-caliber handgun was allegedly found in the vehicle.

Walter's neighbors were startled by the news.

"I didn't think he would do that," Fred Steinman said. "He's got a kid. He's a model. I didn't think he needed the money. He always has nice clothes."