Talk about a close shave!
Cops are searching for the gunman who robbed a man mid-trim at a Williamsburg barbershop on Oct. 14.
The victim was in the barber seat on Maujer Street by Manhattan Avenue at around 4:30 pm, when the robber entered the shop, approached the victim, and stuck a gun to his neck, before snarling “Give me the watch,” according to an employee.
The heist was so strange and sudden, some barbers assumed the robber was a regular customer playing a practical joke, the employee said.
“They thought at first that it was a guy trying to play around with him,” said Flex Rodriguez, a Mill Basin resident. “He had a hoodie on, and they know someone that looks just like that.”
But the presumed prank was no laughing matter. Rodriguez said that the victim, who wasn’t wearing a watch, tried unsuccessfully to remove his ritzy Cartier bracelets, but the bands can only be removed with a screwdriver, so he resorted to handing the robber his cell phone, credit card, and $350, police said.
Following the robbery, the victim told employees that he didn’t know the bandit, but that he had seen him around his neighborhood, according to Rodriguez, who suspects that the victim was targeted because of his flashy outfits and expensive car, which was double-parked outside the shop.
“It’s got to be an inside job,” Rodriguez said, before noting that the victim’s uncle is a jeweler. “Supposedly the watch is worth $10,000.”
Anyone who provides police with information leading to an arrest can expect up to a $2,500 reward through the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers program. The public can phone their tips to (800) 577-8477, log into the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdc
All calls are strictly confidential.
