PATTERSON, N.J. (WABC) — On Thursday, Eyewitness News described a “bump and grab” at a sneaker store in Queens. In this incident, thieves vandalized a storefront in a BMW and made off with merchandise. This was a trigger for Davis-Diaz. His store, Kicktronics, in Paterson, New Jersey, was also robbed.
“I saw that and I was like, 'Wow, I can't believe this is really happening to small business sneaker owners,' you know? That's what really triggered it,” Diaz said.
An SUV with the same dent in its bumper pulled up to Diaz's store. A thief broke into his store using a rock and broke the window.
“Parkers can go up to $1,000 on the resale market. We didn't have 10, 20 or 30, but hundreds were taken away in glass cases alone,” Diaz added. .
They were taken and thrown into the back of an SUV.
In just five days, at least four high-end sneaker and clothing stores across New York City, Long Island, and New Jersey have been robbed. Just three days after the Jan. 11 Patterson robbery, a concrete block was found falling from the window of the Connect clothing store in Montclair. $45,000 worth of merchandise was stolen.
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with a hit and grab incident that occurred on Long Island on January 15th. One of them is Christopher Flores, 19, who is accused of leading police on a wild chase in a stolen Lamborghini in April.
Diaz hopes more arrests will be made.
Kicktronics managers say they have never seen this level of damage in their nearly 20 years of business. He said the store had been targeted six times in the past year.
You can watch the series “Gilgo Beach Witness” starting Friday, Jan. 19, wherever you stream on ABC 7 New York.
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