74-Year-Old Pharmacist Speaks Out After Being Attacked During Armed Robbery
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 74-year-old pharmacist was attacked while on the job last month in Manhattan.
Police said two men threw the man to the ground before raiding prescription cabinets.
The suspects allegedly stole approximately $30,000 to $40,000 worth of pills, including Percocet and oxycodone, along with an iPhone and $3,000 cash.
It happened around 12:45 p.m. on July 19 at MNS Pharmacy on Audubon Avenue in Washington Heights.
Surveillance video shows one suspect brandish a gun and force the pharmacist to open the locked prescription cabinet. The 74-year-old is thrown to the floor and remains motionless as the robbers dump bottles of prescription drugs into a blue backpack.
CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas spoke with the victim, who isn't letting the incident stop him from opening his pharmacy for another day of work.
"I was in the back, and one guy came and he put around my neck the gun and he said, 'give me the Percocet,'" Saeed Sheikh said. "Then, he said, 'Don't talk, don't talk.'"
"I was just calm, that if I resist or do something, he'd shoot me," he added.
Sheikh was not seriously hurt and refused medical attention.
The pharmacy is new to the neighborhood and conveniently located near New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.
"They have a clinic right there, so you're able get medication right there on the corner, easy access," said Francina Taveras, who works nearby. "For that to happen to him, it's a shame, it definitely is."
Police said they're searching for two black men – one last seen wearing a black baseball cap, white T-shirt, black sweatpants with a white stripe, black boots, blue backpack, white dust mask and blue latex gloves, and the other wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants with a yellow stripe and white sneakers.
They were last seen leaving in a black Audi.
Anyone with information is asked to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip via the Crime Stoppers website, by Tweeting @NYPDTips or by texting a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.
