By Joy Bergmann
At least 12 NYPD units swarmed 244 W. 72nd Street between West End and Broadway at around 3:30 Monday afternoon and arrested one robbery suspect who had fled to the building’s rear fire escape. An alleged accomplice was arrested minutes earlier near W. 71st and Broadway.
WSR spoke to Capt. Timothy Malin of the 20th Precinct at the scene. Details are still coming in, but this is Malin’s initial report:
A delivery truck driver and a white BMW – with two men inside – got into an accident in Brooklyn. They said to each other, ‘Let’s settle this with cash and not report it.’ The BMW men asked for quite a lot of money. Truck driver says, ‘OK, but I’ve got to talk to my boss.’
The group agreed to go to the Upper West Side – where the truck driver’s boss apparently lives – to settle the matter. But upon arrival near Broadway and 71st Street, the guys in the white BMW produced a firearm and said, ‘No, we want more money than that.’
Malin continued: Somehow the truck driver was able to call 911. NYPD shows up, and the BMW guys take off running.
The passenger in the BMW was soon caught by police; the BMW driver gave chase and apparently ran into 244 W. 72nd and ended up on the 8th floor fire escape in the rear. Officers from the 20th Precinct scaled the fire escape and arrested him.
If you saw the commotion at 72, B’Way to West End, that was us chasing two robbers. One was captured on street, and the other fled into a building and was captured on a fire escape. It was great police work. Look for more details later on our Facebook page. pic.twitter.com/1ooBAXqZI1
— NYPD 20th Precinct (@NYPD20Pct) October 1, 2018
No one was injured in the incident. We will update this story as new information arrives.
Note: NYPD later informed us that the victim in this incident was a delivery truck driver, not a taxi driver. We’ve edited this story to reflect this new information. We expect additional details to emerge and will post an update as warranted.
GO, TWO-OH !!!!!!
I want a BMW! Maybe the suspect in red shorts can introduce me to the profitable business he is in?
Great, are we now going to be treated to Russian-style fake-accident extortion scams?
Let me get this straight. The delivery truck driver says to the dealers (or whatever they are), “I can get you cash, I just need to check with my boss who’s on the UWS.” So off they drive, and the delivery guy makes no attempt to lose them.
As if!