MELROSE — A trio of robbers smashed an arcade machine at a South Bronx dry cleaners, stole quarters and threw a stool at an employee, police said.
The thieves approached Professional Dry Cleaning at 786 Courtlandt Ave. around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, and one of them pounded the business's coin pusher arcade machine with a hammer while another swiped quarters from it and a third stood outside as a lookout, according to the NYPD.
One suspect threw a stool at a 46-year-old employee during the robbery, giving him a severe cut to his ear, and the robbers then fled the dry cleaners and ran to a nearby address with an unknown amount of money, police said.
The employee went to Lincoln Hospital with minor injuries, according to the NYPD.
Video shows the robbers smashing the arcade machine with a hammer multiple times and stealing a large tray of quarters from it while an employee appears to throw things at them from off camera.
Officers described the suspect with the hammer as a man between 22 and 25 years old who stands 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 200 pounds and was last seen in a black mask, black shorts, a black and white striped long sleeve shirt, and black and white sneakers.
They described the second suspect as a man with a dark backpack between 22 and 25 years old who stands 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighs 220 pounds and was last seen in a black du-rag and dark colored clothing.
The third suspect is also a man between 22 and 25 years old who stands 6 feet tall, weighs 175 pounds and was last seen in a red hooded sweater, black pants and black sneakers.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the crime stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
