A man was taken into custody Friday morning after he attempted to steal Tylenol and cash from a Flatbush deli.
The incident occurred just after 4:30 am inside Avenue H Deli, at the corner of Avenue H and Utica Avenue. Officers from the 63rd Precinct and NYPD emergency service units surrounded the building shortly after.
The suspect, who was wearing a black hat and mask, was found on the roof of an adjacent building at about 7:10 am.
“I am shocked, be nice to the neighbor,” deli owner Abdulla Musaid said. “In 20 years, something like this has never happened to me. I want to thank the police for catching the suspect.”
The NYPD could not provide further information on the incident, or the suspect’s charges.
While citywide crime rates have plummeted amid the coronavirus shutdown, burglaries are only down slightly in the 63rd Precinct, according to NYPD statistics. On the other hand, robberies are up more than 200 percent year-to-date in the 63rd Precinct, with 26 recorded so far this year as opposed to eight this time last year. Grand larcenies are also up more than 30 percent year-to-date.
Additional reporting by Llyod Mitchell
