Worker hit with bottle in attempted robbery at Manhattan liquor store
UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A liquor store worker was hospitalized after being assaulted during an attempted robbery on the Upper East Side.
It happened around 10 p.m. Tuesday at the Wine Emporium on 2nd Avenue near 81st Street.
Employees say three young men walked in, picked up some bottles of liquor and went up to the front demanding a shopping bag to put the bottles in.
"One guy was standing near the door, and another guy was saying that his friend has a gun," manager Sayed Imam said. "I was saying, 'You guys are kidding me.' He was saying, 'Give me the bottles and bags and all that, otherwise he's going to shoot you.' I was kind of afraid."
The suspects fled with four bottles of Hennessy, and the employee gave chase, which is when police say one of the suspects hit him over the head with a bottle.
"He put his hand on his ear, he felt the blood and couldn't remember anything," said a translator for the employee, named Belayet.
The victim, named Belayet, was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital in serious but stable condition and is now at home recovering.
He has lacerations to his head and ear and says he is afraid to go back to work at the store where he had been working for two years.
"Still I'm afraid this happened with us," said Imam. "This morning when I was coming to work I felt if this happen again we have kids and family, it's really scary."
So far, there are no arrests.
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