BROOKLYN — Police shot and seriously injured one of three suspects after Verizon Store robbery in Midwood on Thursday morning, sources said.
Two of the suspected robbers held up the cellphone store at 418 Ave. P, near East Second Street just before 11:30 while the getaway driver waited outside in an SUV, officials said.
"They ordered the [four] employees into a back room at the location. They then removed a quantity of cell phones from the store," said the chief of Brooklyn detectives, Patrick Conry.
The shop's owner followed the men — Alan Francois, 25, Altariq Mciver, 39, and Marquis Riley, 25 — as they left the store and flagged down nearby police who chased after their getaway car, sources said.
The owner also chased after them in his car while and employee called 911 to give police a description of the men, officials said.
"A uniformed sergeant and his operator observed the perpetrators' vehicle about a block away from [Avenue O and East 14th Street]. When they approached the vehicle, it crashed at the corner," Conry said.
The three men hopped out of the SUV and made a break for it, but one of them pulled out a semi-automatic gun so police fired "several rounds," officials said.
It wasn't immediately clear how many shots police fired, but seven yellow evidence markers dotted Avenue O just west of East 14th Street.
"I heard a crash. I heard four shots. I looked to the corner and I saw the cop running after one guy," said neighbor Joe Zar, 47, who lives on the block.
"I was trying to run in the house. [I was] very scared and shaken up," Zar added.
Update: following a commercial robbery, a suspect was shot by police near Ave. O & E. 14th St. in Brooklyn. Two firearms have been recovered
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) January 28, 2016Police hit one of the suspects twice in the torso, according to the NYPD. He was in custody and treated at Kings County Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
He lay beside the SUV while the other suspects ran away from the scene, dropping what appeared to be a Gucci purse on the sidewalk, witnesses said.
The other two men were also arrested, police said.
They were all charged with robbery, but Mciver faced an additional charge for having a gun and Marquis for trespassing, police said. They were all still awaiting arraignment Friday morning, officials said.
Francois was arrested in April 2010 for driving without a license, in Oct. 2010 and May 2011 for selling drugs, in une 2011 for falsifying business records and in June 2014 for driving without a license, an NYPD spokesman said.
Marquis was arrested in Oct. 2014 for grand larceny, in May 2015 for resisting arrest and Aug. 2015 for robbing someone at gunpoint, police said.
No NYPD officers were injured in the incident, officials said.
Police, who taped off the area around the crash scene, recovered both guns at the scene, they said.
There have been two firearms recovered from the scene, one of which is shown here. The investigation is ongoing. pic.twitter.com/GvSk4YsUwC
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) January 28, 2016They also recovered a police radio scanner, officials said.
"I didn't see it, but just the fact that it happened is shocking. It's uncomfortable that it happened right in front of the office," said Milana Murtova, a receptionist at Gamma Dental at the intersection where the shooting occurred.
With reporting by Julia Bottles and William Mathis
