A cunning gunman in a ski mask robbed a 99-year-old Manhattan landlord of at least $20,000 in a broad-daylight heist this week – after apparently keeping a sharp eye on the senior’s comings and goings, police said.
The slick criminal called the elderly building owner around 10 a.m. Monday and claimed he had a package that needed to be delivered to an apartment within the residence on West 187th Street near Audubon Avenue in Washington Heights, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
The caller requested that the senior meet him on the side of the building – a red flag because “you would only know that was a side entrance if you’re familiar with that building,” Kenny said.
When the victim went to open the gate, the intruder grabbed it and pushed his way past, the chief said.
“[The victim] realizes that this isn’t right,” Kenny said. “The 99-year-old starts to fight with the perpetrator. During this fight over the door, his hand gets crushed between the door and the metal frame, hurts his hand, and he ends up having to get stitches.”
The suspect then made his way into the basement of the five-floor, 30-unit building, where he allegedly pressed a gun into the victim’s back and demanded access to the office, the police official said.
“You have to be familiar with that building, familiar with this gentleman’s daily routine to know that his office was in the basement,” Kenny said.
He then forced his way into the office, where he snatched up at least $20,000 in rent that was stored in a cabinet, the police official said.
The money also included payments from the tenants of two buildings across the street, which the senior also owned, Kenny said.
“He is in charge of collecting the rent, and someone knew that he kept the rent in that cabinet,” he said. “It was plain obvious that the perpetrator knew his way around that building. He knew that the male had the money.”
The suspect, who spoke only Spanish, fled the scene with the hefty wad of cash and had not yet been caught by Thursday.
He was last seen wearing a black ski mask, black gloves, gray sweatshirt, black sweatpants and white sneakers, cops said as they released footage of him walking slowly on the sidewalk.
The victim, meanwhile, was taken to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center with two broken fingers and a cut on his hand, police said.
Anyone with information on the brazen robber’s whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, or on X @NYPDTips.
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