Pawn Shop Employee On Edge After Violent Robbery Attempt In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The victim in a violent attempted robbery in the Bronx says he was working and carrying thousands of dollars in cash when he was targeted for his backpack, but the suspects got away with nothing.
The entire ordeal was caught on camera, showing the pawn shop employee standing idly on the sidewalk when a hooded stranger pulls him to the ground, and with an accomplice tries to pry the bag off his shoulders.
"As you see in the video they dragged my bag and tried to take it," victim Daniel Salas told CBS2's Ali Bauman.
The bag in question had $21,000 in cash inside Saturday evening. Every night, Salas says he locks up the store on Grand Concourse near 192nd Street and brings the cash to an overnight post.
"Somebody must have tipped them," Salas said. "They know everything."
Salas says he only had to walk the money a few yards from the main store to its overnight location. After reviewing all the surveillance tapes, he thinks those men had been waiting outside for at least 20 minutes.
But in a fortunate twist, the would-be thieves didn't walk away with a cent thanks to Salas' boss, seen on surveillance video rushing to save his employee -- and all that money -- before chasing the men away.
"I just focused on the bag," Salas' boss Darren Wu said. "I didn't see the guys' face very clear."
Wu says he didn't have time to be scared.
"If it was not for him everything would be lost," Salas said.
Police say they're still looking for the two suspects. Both Salas and Wu say they want them off the streets and far away from their business.
"I'm still nervous," Salas said. "I don't want to come out of my house."
In the meantime, the two men say they're working out a safer way to move their money.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.