EAST HARLEM — Three masked men with laser pointers on their guns stormed into a hardware store on East 116th Street and temporarily held the workers hostage in the basement while two others robbed the store on Sunday.
The captives told officers that three of the men had black handguns with red lasers on them, a fourth robber acted as the lookout and the fifth man broke open the cash register at 3:25 p.m. at SMA Garden Hardware, located at 206 E. 116th St., according to the NYPD.
The store's manager tried to stand up to one of the men and was pistol whipped on the right side of his face, police said.
Afterwards, two of the gunmen ordered the rest of the employees to the basement, dragging one of them down the stairs. The gunmen then went through their pockets.
The suspects got away with more than $800 in cash and stolen goods including wallets, debit cards, and a phone. No arrests have been made, police said.
An employee at the store declined to talk about the robbery Monday morning.
