NYPD searching for man accused of fatally shooting beloved Upper East Side bodega worker
NEW YORK -- Police are searching for a suspect accused of shooting and killing a beloved bodega worker on the Upper East Side late Friday night.
Police believe that same suspect may have also robbed another store.
Surveillance video from inside Yaya Deli and Grill in the Bronx shows a suspect in a white hazmat suit and a black mask. Police say he held up the store on Melrose Avenue on Friday night, just 15 minutes after he allegedly shot and killed a deli worker on the Upper East Side.
"He was full of life ... What can you tell a family that has just lost the breadwinner, the supporter," said Fernando Mateo, spokesperson for United Bodegas of America.
Police say a suspect was wearing the same hazmat suit when he shot the employee in the head at Daona Deli on 81st Street and Third Avenue around 11:30 p.m., then rode off on a scooter.
The victim, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The guy must be crazy to go ahead and think it's OK what he just did and go on and on and on," said David Viera, a customer.
"We are behind the counter. We get robbed. We could get taken to the basement of our businesses or wherever and shot and killed the same way he was. We're here to offer every bodega owner here support," Mateo said.
Heartbroken neighbors and customers, unwilling to believe the longtime deli employee lost his life, lingered outside the bodega Saturday morning.
"I'm in disbelief. Like I said, my colleague texted me and called me last night saying, 'Look what happened, this terrible thing happened.' I couldn't find my sleep after that. But I'm here and I see the reality and I say, wow, this is terrible," Viera said.
Customers said he was a hard-working, generous man who offered free coffee and warm words of encouragement.
"It's so close to home. I live two block away. I get my breakfast sandwich from that place every morning. Just to be that close to something and know it could happen to you," one man said.
"Very nice person, very nice. He was nice to all his customers," one person said.
"I knew him very well. We would talk back and forth. He was a very hard-working man, this was his second job," Upper East Side resident Alan Mandel said.
Customers also said he worked the overnight shift alone and many were concerned for his safety before this happened.
"He's always by himself at night, so I asked him one day, do you feel safe working in here by yourself? He said, oh, it's OK, I'll be alright," one person said. "I was telling him you should have somebody in the store with you at night, working with you."
"Looters have taken over our small businesses. They go in, and they take whatever they want and they walk out because they know they're allowed to do that. They know that they can do it and get away with it," Mateo said.
A memorial sits outside of Daona Deli for the 67-year-old victim. Police have not identified him, but we're told he has family overseas.
United Bodegas of America are offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. They are demanding action be taken on senseless crimes like this.
"We can't have a cop in front of every bodega. We can't have police officers patrolling and watching out for the small businesses that are getting robbed," Mateo said.
United Bodegas of America plans on meeting with NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey on Monday to discuss further safety protocols for bodega workers.
So far, no arrests have been made.
