Police Release Video Of Suspects In Robbery Of Man, 85, In Greenpoint
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police on Thursday released surveillance video of a suspect who barged into an 85-year-old man's Greenpoint, Brooklyn home and robbed him.
Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, 85-year-old Pablo Roldan was napping inside his Huron Street home in, when he awoke to a knock on the door, he told CBS2's Ali Bauman in an exclusive interview late last month.
"They push in, and choke me out," he told Bauman.
Three men dressed in black with hoods covering their faces pushing him into the apartment, demanding money, he said.
"'Where is the money?' 'What money? I got no money. I got some money, but it's in the bank,'" he reenacted.
But he did have money -- $36,000 hidden in a closet that he feared they would find.
Roldan said he tried to give the men his wallet, but believes somehow they knew he had more and forced their way inside.
One man held him down on the couch while the other two ransacked the apartment, he said.
"Was so tall and strong that I could not fight back," he told Bauman.
To save himself, Roldan played dead as the men tore through his home looking for cash.
"I'm dying, I'm dying," he reenacted.
The men didn't just go through all the rooms in his apartment, they also went through the building's hallways and searched a storage closet.
Eventually, the masked thieves found his cash in a back bedroom, where his sick wife was asleep. The money was for her medical bills.
"That was my life savings in there," he said.
Investigators late last month said some of the cash was left behind, but thousands were missing. Police on Thursday said the suspects "left without taking anything."
The suspects were described as three Hispanic males about 5 feet 7 to 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing masks and gloves. One suspect was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the words, "live inspired" on the left shoulder, one was wearing a black jacket with the word "heat" on the back, and one was wearing blue and white sneakers, police said.
Police also released a surveillance video of one of the suspects.
Police said the men ran west on Huron Street.
Anyone with information was asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS or (888) 57-PISTA for Spanish, log onto the Crime Stoppers website, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577.