NYPD: East Harlem smoke shop clerk shot & stabbed, friend assaulted in attempted robbery
NEW YORK -- Police are searching for two men accused of shooting and stabbing a smoke shop employee and assaulting another man in East Harlem during an attempted robbery Friday night.
The suspects were captured on surveillance video.
With their hoodies, masks and gloves on, they seemingly walked into Essex Convenience like any other customer around 11:15 p.m., just before closing, but then they bolted, gun pointed at Tariq Nieves, a friend of the employee's, while the other demanded items from the clerk behind the counter.
"So he hits me in the head with a pistol and then takes me back there, puts me on the floor, has me empty out all my pockets, so I emptied out everything," Nieves said.
Nieves ended up getting two staples on his head.
The employee behind the counter, who doesn't want to be identified, was shot in the groin and stabbed multiple times. He was taken to Harlem Hospital and is now recovering.
"I was like, 'This guy has a gun and a knife. It's like, it's over at this point,' and then I locked myself back there and waited until people came," Nieves said.
The suspects fled up East 116th Street empty-handed, leaving just before cops arrived.
The smoke shop and convenience store's manager says all money and items taken from the victims' pockets were recovered.
"We'll catch up to them eventually. They will pay the price," he said.
Normally, the entrance to the store is locked and customers need to be buzzed in by the clerk, but Friday night, the employee eased up and left the doors unlocked when the suspects got in.
"Yes, you can get too comfortable in a smoke shop, too ... You can't be on the phone just looking down for 10, 15 minutes at a time. That happens, you look up, they're already in here. Sometimes it's too late," the store manager said.
The whole ordeal lasted about three minutes.
Essex Convenience has only been open for less than a year. Its manager says no employees will be allowed to keep doors unlocked or let anyone in with their faces covered.
"I personally feel like if you don't know the customer by today, don't let a stranger in the store. I mean, you're not missing much -- $5, $10? Your life is worth more than that," he said.
While police arrived within minutes Friday night, the manager also plans on installing a panic button in the store as soon as possible.
No arrests have been made at this time.
