UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) — Detectives are investigating and say the suspect who shot and killed an Upper East Side bodega worker over the weekend is connected to four robberies in three neighborhoods.
The same suspect who killed a 67-year-old deli Friday night may have robbed a Bronx deli less than an hour later, police said.
Police say the gunman first walked into the Daona Deli at East 81st Street and Third Avenue around 11:30 p.m., demanding money from an employee.
The gunman then shot the 67-year-old victim in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The gunman fled south on Third Avenue on a scooter, and police believe he showed up in the Bronx about half an hour later, where authorities say he held a Yaya deli vendor at gunpoint.
No one was injured in this incident. The gunman fled from Melrose Avenue to 160th Street and remains at large.
Officials linked the suspect to both incidents because of the distinctive disguise he was wearing — a white Tyvek protective suit and a black mask — and released surveillance video of the Bronx holdup.
Detectives are now investigating whether he is behind other similar robberies.
Two recent robberies in Brooklyn, on February 25 and earlier on March 3, were also carried out by a suspect wearing a Tyvek suit.
The first incident was reported just after 10:30 p.m. on February 25 at 1501 Foster Avenue at the Sunset Bagel store.
On March 3, there was a worker seizure at the Super Deli Market at 627 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint.
“Between the mask, the suit, the hoodie and all nine of them, it’s hard for us to identify him,” said NYPD Assistant Chief Joseph Kenney. “We’ve been doing extensive video shooting from Brooklyn to the Bronx and back to Brooklin and we’ve had no luck with an identification yet. That’s why we hope someone from the community will call the line and help us. outside.”
A $15,000 reward is being offered, including $10,000 from the NYPD and another $5,000 from the United Bodegas of America.
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United Bodegas of America is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest in these incidents.
At the Upper East Side bodega, the victim was remembered as a good man who was devoted to his family.
“A very good guy, a family man … you can’t describe how good he was … always a hard worker,” said the victim’s friend, Angel Viera.
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