Caught On Video: Bronx Bodega Robbed At Gunpoint With Little Girl Inside
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Bronx bodega has been robbed twice in a week, and the owner is terrified.
Her young daughter was in the store and saw the suspects in action.
As CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis reported Thursday, the woman said she brings her daughter to work at the Morris Heights bodega because she can't afford a sitter and she's in remote learning. The little girl was at the bodega both times she was robbed at her Featherbed Lane store. She wants police to put an end to this, so they can stop living in fear.
"It's not about me, I want to protect her. Imagine if they shoot her for a couple of bucks," the woman said.
She's so scared and emotional she has to hide her identity. How could she not be after a man walked into a store and pointed a gun at her.
Surveillance cameras captured another suspect leaping over her 5-year-old daughter, who waves her hands, screaming.
"I keep saying, maybe this thing is keep in her head, she never forget what happened," the woman said.
Surveillance video shows the 51-year-old trying to fight off the suspect, and also get a glimpse of who's behind the mask.
"I push him, I try to struggle with him here. I touched the gun with his hand to get it down and try to open his face to see who," she said.
The other man walked out with the register drawer, containing about $700.
Police said it happened Sunday at around 7:30 p.m. It marked the second time she was robbed in about a week. The first time, a man waiting in line during the overnight hours leapt over the counter, grabbing money.
"He just pulls out the gun in front of my face and said 'Give me the money,'" she said. "How they have the same courage to come twice in one week, imagine?"
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In October, DeAngelis spoke with a 65-year-old woman who said she was assaulted by two strangers while sitting in her car outside the same bodega, leaving her badly hurt.
The bodega owner is sick of people terrorizing this community.
"I need the police to do their best to catch them. Not only them, anyone who harms," she said.
Nobody was hurt this time, thankfully, but it has taken an emotional toll.
A man at the bodega said the community hired him to stand outside as security to hopefully prevent more crime.
"I have security experience, military background experience. I just want to give back more to the community. I feel bad for the lady, her daughter," Army veteran J.C. Santana said.
"I need the police to do their best to catch them," the owner said.
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
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