Reward offered after 3 brothers injured protecting Brooklyn bodega
NEW YORK -- A trio of brothers said they were trying to defend each other and their store from a man who didn't want to pay for merchandise and had a knife.
Two were stabbed. The third was injured.
Now, a reward is being offered for the suspect's arrest.
Surveillance video from Pedregal Grocery on Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn shows a man trying to leave with canned drinks that workers said he didn't want to fully pay for. The suspect is seen pushing a worker, then he's seen throwing cans at the clerk.
A worker holding a baseball bat can be seen shoving him out of the store. Outside, the suspect grabbed the baseball bat.
"The guy took the bat away and hit him. Other brother came out, then he got stabbed," said Fernando Mateo of United Bodegas of America.
Police said 46-year-old Pedro Ramirez was stabbed in the chest and arm. He's in the hospital recovering. Marcial Ramirez, 60, showed CBS New York's Alice Gainer the bruising from the bat attack and his hand, where he was stabbed.
"One of his fingers is non-functional. I guess he perforated a nerve. Surgery's next week," Mateo said.
A third brother was injured when the suspect shattered the glass door with the baseball bat. In the video, you see the suspect come back with the bat and smash the door with 51-year-old Jose Ramirez behind it. He injured his eye on the shattered glass.
"Too many people thinking they can come into a bodega and take ownership of that bodega by taking the merchandise and not paying for it. And that needs to stop," Mateo said.
Mateo said they're offering a $3,000 reward leading to the arrest of the suspect, who said he goes by the name "50 Cent" -- not to be confused with the rapper 50 Cent.
"We want to get this guy 50 Cent off the street, because he doesn't belong on the street. He belongs in jail," Mateo said.
Mateo had this advice for other bodega workers, when it comes to thieves.
"Leave them alone. Let them go. It's not worth your life," he said.
