Bodega union calls for panic buttons after group of robbers impersonates NYPD officers in Brooklyn
BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, Brooklyn (WABC) -- There is a renewed push for panic buttons to be placed inside bodegas to alert the NYPD in case of emergencies.
It comes after Sunday's violent robbery in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, where four armed robbers pretended to be police officers.
Surveillance video captured at the Marcus Garvey and Willoughby Avenue store captured the whole crime.
The group zip-tied a 46-year-old employee who opened the store on Sunday, hit one worker, and forced a 60-year-old worker and customer to sit on the floor at gunpoint.
No one was injured, but the robbers got away with a bag of lottery tickets. The group of robbers even wore fake jackets that said NYPD Police on the back.
"I go to turn off the light right here, I put the hands up, they say NYPD don't move, and they throw me here on the floor, they push me right here, they throw me on the floor and they drag me over there and tie me up," said one of the victims named Richard.
Richard said he was forced down on the floor and dragged into a corner.
On Tuesday, the United Bodegas of America sounded off with a renewed call to Governor Kathy Hochul for panic buttons to bolster security.
The buttons would alert the NYPD to help those in danger.
"Every week you see us at a different venue, a guy gets stabbed and killed in bodega a week ago," said United Bodegas of America spokesman Fernando Mateo. "Now they're dressing like cops, now they're police officers going into a bodega and threatening the lives of our bodega owners."
The group says workers remain a primary target for criminals who are back on the streets-- hours after their arrests-- because of to New York City's bail reform.
Police are continuing to search for all four suspects.
The United Bodegas of America is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to arrests in the robbery.
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