LOWER EAST SIDE — A burglar made off with $25,000 in cash after breaking into a Cherry Street grocery store through the ceiling earlier this week, police said.
The thief took money from three cash registers and a back office after the Stop 1 Food Market, located near Rutgers Slip, closed for the day at about 11 p.m. on March 3, according to the NYPD and manager Jose Rodriguez.
Police said the suspect, a man, broke into an emergency generator room, which connects to the store. He then made a hole in the wall, climbed up and broke through the ceiling, Rodriguez said.
Surveillance cameras caught the burglar in the act, he added, but the suspect wore a mask and gloves.
“You could barely see his eyes and nose,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the store was closed for six hours the next day while police investigated. He said the incident was the first time the store had been burglarized since it opened 30 years ago.
“We feel violated, honestly,” Rodriguez said.
Other recent crimes in the 7th Precinct include:
► A 25-year-old woman was sent to Beth Israel Hospital on March 4 after another woman cut her right hand and left arm in front of 203 Rivington St., police said.
The attacker approached the victim at about 8:40 p.m. as she was walking home from work and “asked [her] if she was Nana,” police said. When the victim replied yes, the woman assaulted her, according to the NYPD.
Police said the suspect was 5 foot 5 and weighed about 140 pounds. She wore her short, black hair in braids, police said.
► A man came home to find his Ludlow Street apartment door open and $2,300 worth of property missing at about 11 p.m. on March 4, police said.
The thief stole two Apple laptops worth $1,100 each as well as $100 cash from the home, police said. There were no signs of forced entry, according to the NYPD, but the man’s 28-year-old roommate noticed an extra set of keys that did not belong to anyone in the apartment.
