NYPD searching for thieves who broke into Bronx bodega and stole $100K in cash
MORRIS HEIGHTS, Bronx (WABC) -- Police in the Bronx are looking for the brazen thieves who broke into a bodega and took off with $100,000 in cash.
Surveillance video from Sunday night shows the suspect's stealthily break into a private office with masks and flashlights before removing cash from the store's register.
The store owner was understandably emotional after realizing how much was taken.
"The bodega owner, of course, is broken down economically, socially, mentally. He lost $100,000," said Fernando Mateo, spokesperson for United Bodegas of America.
The owner was too distraught to speak, but the community is rallying around his store, Los Castillo Mini Market and Deli on University Avenue.
"I know him and his father and both his family, hardworking people," said Radhames Rodriguez, President of United Bodegas of America. "You know, it's it's very sad. I know, because I'm a grocery store owner."
One of the burglars involved in the robbery was seen on video, casually behind the counter, tossing the unsecured cash into his backpack.
It wasn't until the owner showed up for work on Monday that he realized his business had been broken into. The steel back door was pried open with a crowbar and security cameras were damaged.
"They were able to cut the all the Wi-Fi wiring, all of the instruments that would have alerted the police departments," Mateo said.
Citywide burglaries are down, but it's a different story in the Bronx, specifically within the 46th Precinct, where NYPD crime stats show burglaries up 25% this year. Small businesses are hurting.
"Bodega owners are also threatened with people following them to their homes and robbing them at their doorstep or robbing them in their apartment, like in the 1990s," Mateo said.
The owners feel hopeless just trying to make a living.
"I have been working for 35 years, and the store and I know how hard it is to make a couple of dollars," Rodriguez said.
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