The gunman wanted for the heinous murder of Upper East Side deli clerk last Friday night, seen in surveillance video wearing a white Tyvek-style coverall jumpsuit, is now under arrest, investigators confirmed Thursday afternoon.
“Detectives received the Crimestoppers tip stating that the suspect entered a bodega at 1665 Boston Road, that was wearing military fatigues and riding that blue moped,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig.
The swift bust came Thursday morning in The Bronx, two days after detectives tracked the suspect using surveillance video to a public housing project near East 158th Street and Park Avenue, where one of the suspect’s white Tyvek jumpsuits was dumped and found by investigators Tuesday night.
“Detectives were able to identify this individual based on video, clothing and interviews,” Chief Essig explained.
Kimond Cyrus, 39, was taken into custody by the Regional Fugitive Task Force in front of 3808 Rombouts Avenue in the Co-op City section of The Bronx around 10:40 am Thursday morning, police said.
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Charges are now pending against Cyrus in connection to three robberies and the fatal shooting.
It was just before 11:30 pm last Friday night, March 3rd, when police say the masked gunman wearing a white coverall jumpsuit stormed the Daona Gourmet Deli & Grocery, located at 201 East 81st Street, at the corner of Third Avenue, and announced a robbery to a customer inside the store and the 67-year-old clerk, Sueng Choi, who went by Michael.
“This witness is ordered to lay on the floor and empty out his pockets,” explained Assistant Chief Joe Kenny of the NYPD Detective Bureau during a briefing earlier this week, “The perpetrator then turns his attention to the homicide victim — the employee who was working at the deli as a clerk.”
“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,” Chief Joe Kenny said.
The Daona deli killer has been linked to three other robberies — on February 25th and March 1st in Brooklyn, and then just 22 minutes after the UES slaying at another deli in The Bronx. No other injuries have been reported.
“Anyone who threatens our neighborhoods with violence will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey during Thursday afternoon’s briefing at One Police Plaza.
Following the heart wrenching crime, Upper East Side neighbors have shown an outpouring of love for Michael, who has not been officially identified by police, with handwritten messages posted next to a makeshift memorial created in front of Daona deli.
“I pray for your family and everyone who loved you,” wrote one Upper East Side resident, “This little corner of the city is not the same without you.”
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