LONG ISLAND CITY — Police are searching for a man suspected of holding up an adult video store at gunpoint two weeks ago.
The suspect, whose photo was released by police on Monday, walked into DCD Exclusive Video on Jackson Avenue near 23rd Street at 1:05 a.m. on Aug. 5, pulled out a gun, pressed it against the cashier's stomach and made off with $500 cash, police and a witness said.
Thiyagi Amarasinghe, 35, who worked that night, said he was still reeling from the incident.
"He came with a mask," Amarasinghe recalled. "I told him to take off the mask. I was out of my mind. I was shocked, I was really shocked."
The determined bandit entered Amarasinghe's booth and threatened him with the gun.
"I saw he got out something silver, it looked like small gun, so I got very scared with that, because I felt like I was almost going to die," the video store clerk said.
The masked man then demanded, "Money money, money, money," he said.
The gunman then ordered Amarasinghe, who had never been held up before, to go to the back of the store, but when the clerk heard the suspect leave, he chased after him while calling 911, and tried to follow the suspect into the Court Square subway station, he said.
"I'm still in shock," he added. "I was almost like a dead person. Like a dead chicken. I was going crazy."
DCD Exclusive Video sells both mainstream and interest-specific videos and DVDs, including karate and fighting videos and DVDs, as well as adult movies, Amarasinghe said.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or to visit WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM.
