Judgment affirmed.
The evidence was sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Additionally, the merger doctrine with respect to the charge of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree is inapplicable here since the crimes of assault and robbery were committed prior to the asportation of the victim. Such abduction was therefore not "only the incidental means employed to facilitate the commission of the [robbery and assault]" (People v. Cassidy, 40 N.Y.2d 763, 768). Mollen, P.J., Rubin, Eiber and Kooper, JJ., concur.