Carjackers Pistol Whip Driver, Smash Windows, Fire Gun in Bronx

Gang that Can’t Shoot Straight Set Off Gun While Trying to Break into Car Across Street from Banknote Building

Cops are searching for this man and another for an assault and attempted kidnapping in the Bronx. -Photo by NYPD

By Dan Gesslein

Bronx Voice

March 9, 2023

BRONX - A pair of would-be carjackers pistol whipped a driver but left without a stolen car, the keys or the driver. Instead they fired a round to get a bag of miscellaneous items from inside the car. 

At around 2:18 pm on February 17, a 42-year-old man was walking to his vehicle near the corner of Tiffany Street and Lafayette Avenue across the street from the Banknote building in Hunts Point. Suddenly, two men ran up to him with guns drawn. One of the gunmen tried to rip the car keys from the driver but he resisted. 

Cops say one of the gunmen then held the car owner while the other robber hit him in the head with the butt of the handgun. Despite being injured, the driver broke free and ran off. The gunmen chased after him but soon gave up. 

Instead one of the gunmen returned to the car. Seeing a bag inside the vehicle, he was determined to remove it as a consolation prize. Cops say he used the handgun to break the car window. As he was breaking the glass the gun went off. He took the bag, which cops say contained miscellaneous property with not much value and ran off.  

The gunmen were caught on surveillance video and cops are asking the public’s help in trying to track them down. 

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. 

All calls are strictly confidential.