A brazen robbery took place at around noon at the Gucci store on West 14th St., in one of the city’s busiest and trendiest neighborhoods, in full daylight, and in the presence of customers.
Police are searching for three suspects, two men and a woman, who displayed a firearm and told everyone in the store to get down.
The store had barely been open an hour when the thieves burst through the door. They took several pieces of luggage and other miscellaneous items worth thousands of dollars. The thieves got away in a black Toyota with New York license plates westbound on 14th Street. Thankfully, none of the workers or customers were injured.
It was shocking not only for those who found themselves inside the store, but also for passersby who witnessed the bold robbery. Tourists in the area said they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
“It’s very daring and middle of the day for somebody to rob a very high-end store at gunpoint and put all the poor people there at risk, terrible,” said Rosemary Welburn, a tourist from Australia.
Brooklyn resident Joe Salama is no tourist, he knows New York and with the kids off from school for President’s Day, they decided to take a break and enjoy some shopping in the city. Ironically, they avoided the subway for fear of crime.
“So we came in to spend the day, you know? The kids are off from school today, it’s a nice family day and that’s, like, the last thing I would expect,” Salama said. “We decided to drive and not take the subway because we felt like it wasn’t maybe so safe. So I feel like things have deteriorated a little bit.”
