The NYPD is sharing new details of what unfolded inside an Upper East Side deli during a robbery Friday night where a beloved 67-year-old clerk was shot dead. Police say the information comes from a customer who was actually in the store during the terrifying heist because there is no surveillance video from inside the bodega to help detectives.
During a briefing outside of the crime scene afternoon on Monday, the NYPD revealed the witness told investigators that the suspect — who was dressed in a white Tyvek-style coverall jumpsuit, like those that painters wear — stormed into the Daona Gourmet Deli & Grocery, located at 201 East 81st Street, just before 11:30 pm, and announced a robbery.
“This witness is ordered to lay on the floor and empty out his pockets,” explained Assistant Chief Joe Kenny of the NYPD Detective Bureau, “The perpetrator then turns his attention to the homicide victim — the employee who was working at the deli as a clerk.”
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The suspect then began pistol-whipping the 67-year-old victim, who was still behind the counter, beating the mans head repeatedly with the butt of the black semi-automatic handgun, police say.
“While the perpetrator is assaulting this victim, the witness is able to flee to location and while he’s doing so he hears a shot come from inside of the deli,” Assistant Chief Kenny added.
It is not clear why there is no surveillance video from inside the Daona deli, however, police admit it has complicated their investigation, saying at this point they do not know the motive for the murder — even pointing to the possibility of an unintentional discharge while the assault unfolded.
“As far as why he shot this victim here, [we] couldn’t really tell you. It just appears, maybe, while he was pistol whipping the subject, the gun may have gone off,” said Assistant Chief Kenny, noting that there is an injury to the clerks left hand, which he says “could indicate the fact that he put his hand up, tried to defend themselves and the gun may have went off then.”
Police have not yet identified the slain clerk, however, a makeshift memorial includes a handwritten message from neighbors addressed to ‘Michael.’
“It doesn’t surprise me that people have left cards, candles and flowers here,” explained NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Edward Caban.
“Each of us here grew up in this city. We know what the neighborhood bodega means. For some of us it was like an extension of our living rooms. The clerk behind the counter was like family,” Commissioner Caban continued.
Detectives are now connecting the suspect in Friday night’s murder with three other robberies. As Upper East Site previously reported, it was just 22 minutes after the slaying at the corner of East 81st Street and Third Avenue on the Upper East Side when another deli, located at 851 Melrose Avenue in the Bronx was targeted by the same pistol-packing suspect in white coveralls.
Police say the suspect’s robbery spree began back on Saturday, February 25th, when he walked into a Brooklyn bagel shop and placed an order before robbed the restaurant at gunpoint — getting away with cash and cell phones.
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Three days later, on the morning of March 1st, the robber would strike again in Brooklyn, where he targeted a deli located at 627 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint and stole cash and cigarettes at gunpoint.
The NYPD and the United Bodegas of America, a merchant advocacy group, are now calling on customers who still choose to mask indoors to pull down their face mask so a clerk can see your face either before or immediately after you enter to give them peace of mind and give the police critical evidence in a robbery.
“Once you show the store owner of who you are and that everything’s okay, if you don’t feel comfortable in the store without your mask on due to the amount of people in there, by all means put it back on,” said NYPD chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, “but we should be helping one another feel safe.”
“We are not trying to pick on anybody. We are just trying to get back home alive and safe to our families,” said Fernando Mateo, President of United Bodegas of America, which has put up $5,000 of a $15,000 reward being offered in this case.
“We need to take our city back and we need to do what has to be done to make that happen,” said Mateo.
Police describe the killer as a man standing 6’2” tall and weighing 200 pounds. He was last seen wearing that white Tyvek-style jump suit over a black sweatshirt and pants, with a black balaclava covering his face.
The suspect was seen unmasked entering a 7-Eleven store in Brooklyn after the first robbery, however, police say the images taken by surveillance cameras were not of high enough quality to be used for a facial recognition database search.
If you recognize him or have any information that can help police, you’re asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477.
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