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Brazen Harlem Gunpoint Attempted Robbery Caught On Video

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A Chinese food deliveryman was stuck up at gunpoint by two brazen, laughing bandits who apparently placed a bogus order.

The whole thing was caught on video.

Harlem Robbery Suspects
(credit: NYPD)

It happened Monday in the stairwell of a building on West 113th Street between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and 7th Avenue.

At around 8:49 p.m., the deliveryman, 56-year-old Saikou Tambajang, arrived at the building and was let inside by one of the suspects. Tambajang attempted to deliver the food but was told by residents of the apartment that they hadn't ordered anything.

As Tambajang walked back down the stairs he was stopped by the two suspects, one of whom pulled out a gun and shoved it in his face.

"I thought he was going to shoot me, honestly, I thought he was going to kill me," he told CBS2's Natalie Duddridge. "Gun pointed at me, 'give me money.' I said, 'I don't have any money.' I wanted to hit him, I said 'I don't have money.' They run away."

Tambajang fought back, and both suspects ran off.

He said he's so shaken up, he plans to quit the delivery business.

"I was very scared. That's why even yesterday I didn't go to work. Yesterday and today I didn't go to work," he said. "That's all I do for my living to have some money."

People who live in the area said tenants need to be more vigilant about not letting strangers inside the complex.

"A lot of people hanging out in some of these buildings here. I don't know how they're getting in," one man said.

Anyone with information regarding this incident has been 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 tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577.

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