A woman recently snatched cash from a 7-year-old boy at a grocery store and tussled with his mother in the Bronx, according to the New York Police Department. Security video of the incident shows the woman taking money from the child, who was paying for fruit at Richard’s Fruit and Vegetable on Jerome Avenue, Mount Eden.
The incident occurred on September 24, around 11:40 am.
The video inside the store captures the boy near the front counter with cash in his hand. The woman, dressed in black and gray athletic clothing and seen with burgundy hair, opens the door, talks to the boy, and extends her hand. As the boy approaches, the woman grabs the money from his hand and leaves the store.
Outside, security cameras record the boy’s 38-year-old mother confronting the woman. The mother reaches for the money, but the woman pushes her hand away and slaps and punches her in the face before walking away. The woman then fled north toward East 170th Street, according to the NYPD.
The mother received medical attention at the scene, the police added.
Co-owner Erick Vidals, 44, of Richard’s Fruits and Vegetables, said the boy had about $4 taken from him. Vidals expressed shock, saying, as quoted by the New York Post, “I’ve got my own kids too,” after watching the video. He mentioned he had seen the attacker before, asking for money, but never with a red wig.
Vidals also said he had never seen anything like this. “Snatching $3, $4 from a 7-year-old kid. It’s insane,” he added.
Richard’s Fruits and Vegetables has been a family-owned business for 27 years.