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Inwood Deli Targeted by Thief for Second Time This Year, Owner Says

 The owner of Titem Deli on 207th Street said he disrupted a burglary in progress on Wednesday morning.
The owner of Titem Deli on 207th Street said he disrupted a burglary in progress on Wednesday morning.
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DNAinfo/Lindsay Armstrong

INWOOD — A deli that was robbed at gunpoint earlier this year was the target of an early-morning break-in Wednesday that ended when the shop’s owner caught the would-be thief in the act.

The owner of Titem Deli, at 630 W. 207th St., closed his shop around 2 a.m. Wednesday and returned a couple of hours later to find the security gate outside his shop slightly ajar. 

"The gate was lifted a little bit so you could tell either someone tried and didn't get in or someone had already gotten inside," said the owner, whose asked that his name not be used because his shop has been targeted twice.

When the owner pulled up the gate, he saw a man inside the store, he said.

The owner confronted the man, asking him "What are you doing in here?" and a brief struggle ensued, he explained. The thief then fled east on 207th Street, leaving a baseball cap and jacket behind, said another of the store's employees.

The owner said the man had tried to grab cigarettes, over-the-counter medication and a laptop from the shop, but left it all behind upon fleeing.

The owner, who was not injured in the incident, acknowledged that he should have handled the situation differently.

"I probably shouldn't have done that and instead just called the cops right away," he said of confronting the thief.

The owner also noted that he neglected to lock the shop's front door before pulling down the gate.

"I forgot to lock the glass door, so it was his lucky day," he said.

A witness called 911, and police arrived a few minutes after the would-be burglar fled, the owner said.

This is the second time the deli has been the target of a crime this year.

In January, two masked men stole $600 from the store’s register after threatening workers with a gun.