CBS2 Exclusive: Newsstand Worker Recalls Being Pistol Whipped, Robbed In Manhattan

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are searching for a man they say pistol whipped a vendor and robbed his Manhattan newsstand.

The attack happened on a very busy stretch of Fulton Street, just a couple blocks from the 9/11 memorial.

Mobarok Karim, a Bangladeshi immigrant, was working alone just before 8 p.m. two weeks ago when he was ambushed by a man with a gun, CBS2's Brian Conybeare reported.

Surveillance video shows Karim getting ready to restock the sodas outside. When he opens a locked door, the suspect hits him in the head with a silver pistol. The man then forces Karim down, covers his head and even throws a case of bottled water on top of him. He then grabs more than $3,000 from the cash register, stuffing it into his pockets and down his pants.

Police said he also stole rolls of scratch-off lottery tickets.

Karim was hospitalized for a head injury, but is now back to work, despite the terrifying incident.

"I just opened the door to fix something here, and he was beat me with a gun," he told Conybeare in an exclusive interview. "I don't see him, I just look around this way. And he just beat me right on the head. And when I look at him, he said, 'whatever you have, just give me. Otherwise, I'll shoot you.'"

The owner of the newsstand told CBS2 the suspect hit, waited and watched for more than an hour before Karim opened the door. Anyone who recognizes him is asked to call the NYPD.