Police believe the individual who fatally shot a 67-year-old deli employee on the Upper East Side last week is connected to several recent armed robberies throughout the city.
On Feb. 25, the suspect robbed a Brooklyn bagel shop at gunpoint, leaving with cell phones belonging to employees along with about $229 from the register.
The same suspect robbed a Brooklyn deli of $1,500 and a carton of cigarettes on March 1.
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The incident on the Upper East Side took place on Friday, March 3 at about 11:30 p.m., when police responded to a call of a man shot at 201 East 81st Street. It is believed that this was the result of a botched robbery, and it was noted that the man fled the scene on a scooter.
Just a short time later on Friday night, the same man is believed to have robbed a Bronx grocery store of “approximately $1,200, cigarettes, and miscellaneous merchandise” before again fleeing on a scooter.
Police describe the suspect as about 6’2″ and 200 pounds and say he was last seen wearing a “white jump suit, a black sweatshirt, black pants, black gloves, and a black face mask.”
Surveillance cameras captured the man robbing YAYA Deli and Grocery in the Bronx.
Police are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information which leads to the suspect’s arrest.
Anyone with relevant information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website or by sending a direct message to @NYPDTips on Twitter. All calls are strictly confidential.
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A few days after the fatal Upper East Side shooting, Mayor Adams publicly encouraged store owners to prohibit shoppers from entering their stores while wearing face masks in order to prevent robberies. “We are putting out a clear call to all of our shops: do not allow people to enter the store without taking off their face mask,” the mayor said in an interview with 1010 WINS. “And then once they’re inside, they can continue to wear it if they desire to do so.”
