Witnesses say the suspect was still wearing his work safety vest when he was caught Thursday night.
He allegedly walked off his job Thursday morning then suddenly snapped.
"I was scared for my life," said Sybil Jason, a witness.
The citywide manhunt for the carjacking suspect ended in the basement of Sybil Jason and Marie Rivers' Greenpoint apartment building.
Both women say they were strangely confronted by the suspect, 27-year-old Nicolas Almonte, then forced to lock themselves in their doors.
"He said, 'I need your help. I believe God sent you to me.' I said, 'I can't help you please go away or I'm going to call the cops,'" Jason said.
"He said, 'Can you help me. Please give me help.' I got nervous. I know what happened. He looks like the guy. So I said, 'I'm going upstairs to get some help.' I locked the door and called 911," Rivers said.
Just outside their home, was a gold Mercedes sedan dumped on Apollo Street, with cash in the front seat and extensive rear end damage.
Earlier, heavily armed police officers in body armor surrounded the suspect's Long Island City apartment, where hostage negotiators prepared for a confrontation that didn't happen.
Three carjackings, one attempted carjacking, an armed robbery and an attempted robbery all happened in one short hour, forcing police to setup roadblocks and checkpoints.
Almonte works on the loading dock of a local scaffolding supply company.
His coworkers don't know what to make of this string of bizarre crimes.
Sources believe the suspect had a fight with his girlfriend, and that is why he went on this crime spree. It's not known what the fight was about.
No shots were fired in any of the incidents, and no drivers were injured.
