DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A would-be ice cream thief tried to steal $119.80 worth of Häagen-Dazs pints at a Downtown Brooklyn grocery store, but dropped his loot when employees tried to stop him, police said.
The suspect entered Khim's Millenium Market at 111 Lawrence Street around 9 p.m. Sunday and tried to walk out with 14 pints of Häagen-Dazs ice cream, according to the NYPD.
When employees tried to stop him, he ran off, pushing a 26-year-old cashier into a door frame and yelling, “Take your f---ing ice cream!” as he dropped the frozen desserts, police said.
An employee who witnessed the aftermath of the attempted robbery said the cashier was able to stop the theft.
“He stopped him,” Fangye Morbu said. “[The suspect] pushed our guy, there was a little bit of a fight. But I think he dropped all the ice cream.”
Morbu said the employee who tried to stop the robbery was hurt when the suspect shoved him out of the way.
“I saw some mark on his hand, his skin was red,” he said.
Morbu said employees didn’t recognize the attempted ice cream bandit. He did not know what flavors the sweet-toothed swindler tried to snatch.
Police said the suspect left a hat at the grocery store. No arrests have been made.
A string of thefts targeting the popular ice cream brand has been reported at Manhattan bodegas and pharmacies since last fall. The NYPD has said ice cream thieves have been selling the stolen treats to bodegas to turn a profit.
