Bound, Robbed in Supermarket Parking Lot in Bronx

Police investigate an armed robbery in the parking lot of Stop & Shop on Eastchester Road on Saturday, November 5. -Photo by Edwin Sotto

By David Greene 

Bronx Voice 

November 8, 2022

BRONX - Police are looking for three bandits wanted in connection with an armed robbery-- according to one witness, the victim claimed the suspects attempted to restrain him with a strap, leading him to believe it was a kidnapping attempt.

According to police, the incident was reported at 9:55 p.m. on November 5, inside the parking lot of Stop & Shop supermarket, located at 1720 Eastchester Road, within the confines of the 49th Precinct. 

A police source stated, "Upon arrival officers were informed by a 32-year-old male he was approached by three individuals, one of the individuals displayed a firearm and forcibly removed the victim's car keys and $800.”

The official added that the suspects fled the scene and that the victim sustained "minor injuries" during the incident but declined medical attention. Police offered no description of the suspects or the vehicle they fled in.

Citizen's App reported that the suspects fled in a grey Lincoln Navigator down Waters Place, towards the Hutchinson River Parkway. Police reported no arrests in the incident and the official added that the investigation "remains ongoing.

Police were observed next to a white truck belonging to a plumbing company, the door was left open after the robbery.

A security guard on-duty that night, told the Bronx Voice, "I heard screaming, yelling, I said ‘I'd better go check...' This guy is walking in the door and he had a green strap on one hand.”

The guard continued, "He said they were trying to kidnap him and took his money and his keys. What made it so damn strange was... a guy comes in behind him wearing a grey baseball cap and grey tracksuit and he says to the first guy, the guy who was attacked, 'Don't go back outside, they're still looking for you.”

The guard recalled how the victim was attempting to get the strap off his wrist, saying, "Apparently they were trying to use it to restrain him." 

According to the guard, the victim later told police it was a "mugging" and not a kidnapping attempt. The guard stated that the victim said that the three men were all wearing black tracksuits and ski-masks.

Both Stop & Shop and Liquor Warehouse have surveillance cameras and likely captured the incident as it unfolded.

The longtime security guard added, "One of my friends... basically was telling me I should be getting out of retail, and I'm beginning to think he's right."