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Police Hunt Gun-Toting Duo in Two West End Avenue Robberies

By Leslie Albrecht | September 7, 2011 7:08am
Police say two gun-toting robbers held up West End Wine & Spirits on Aug. 18.
Police say two gun-toting robbers held up West End Wine & Spirits on Aug. 18.
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DNAinfo/Leslie Albrecht

UPPER WEST SIDE — A pair of gun-toting robbers struck two West End Avenue businesses within blocks of each other in the last three weeks, police said.

Police believe the duo carried out gunpoint robberies at a 24-hour deli on the corner of West End Avenue and West 64th Street, and at West End Wine & Spirits on West End Avenue and West 61st Street, a police source said.

The pair struck first at the liquor store on Aug. 18 at 10:18 p.m., according to police.

They walked into the store wearing baseball hats with white masks covering their noses and mouths, said the store manager, who didn't want his name used.

The suspected robbers then displayed their guns to three employees in the store, telling two workers to lay on the floor while forcing another to empty the cash register. The pair fled the store on foot in the direction of West 61st Street, the manager said.

Police say a pair of gun-toting robbers have struck two West End Avenue businesses recently, including this 24-hour grocery and deli at 110 West End Avenue.
Police say a pair of gun-toting robbers have struck two West End Avenue businesses recently, including this 24-hour grocery and deli at 110 West End Avenue.
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DNAinfo/Leslie Albrecht

Aside from cash, the pair also took three bottles of Hennessy cognac with them, the manager said.

The suspected robbers struck again over Labor Day weekend at a deli and grocery at 110 West End Ave., a police source said.

The pair walked into the store at 3:10 a.m. on Sept. 3, according to police. One of the alleged robbers pointed a gun at a cashier and said, "Give me the money," while his companion held three other store employees at gunpoint, police said.

Aside from cash from the register, the suspected robbers walked off with five boxes of Newport cigarettes, according to police. They left the store on foot and headed south on West End Avenue.

The store manager at West End Wine & Spirits said the robbery left him shaken. He opened the store on July 1 expecting to do business in a safe neighborhood surrounded by Riverside Park South and the high-end Riverside South residential development, and said he's looking forward to serving more customers when the nearby Riverside Center development is completed in the coming years.

"It was a walk in the park for these guys," the manager said.

"That's what's so upsetting. It was like going in and taking lunch money from a baby, literally. It saddens me that a couple of bad apples would destroy this up-and-coming area."