by Mike Schnitzel
³An individual walked in and looked toward my sunglass display before asking if I had any other sunglasses,² said the manager. ³At that point a second individual walked in and headed toward the back of the store, where I make my customers glasses. He didn¹t look at me, and his face was covered.²
Then the manager saw a third unfamiliar individual and grew suspicious. He said he headed toward the back of the store to tell the masked man that he couldn¹t go into the work area, and at that point the man who had asked about sunglasses came up behind the manager and pointed a gun at his head, telling him that he was being robbed.
³I turned around, and he said to me, ŒSee, this is a gun, and if you don¹t cooperate, I will blow your head off,¹² the manager recounted. After telling him that if he remained ³calm and cool² he would be all right, the men began tying up the manager. Police said that a total of four perpetrators robbed the store. According to police, the manager¹s hands and legs were bound with tape and his eyes were also covered.
Unable to find any cash on the premises, the subjects took money, a watch, a bracelet, a wallet and a cell phone from the manager, police said. ³I couldn¹t see, because my eyes were taped,² the manager said, ³but I heard someone looking around the store for money, and someone was on top of me holding me down with a gun. After giving them my PIN number for my bank card they left, and I was able to work the tape off of my head and then find a box-cutter to free myself. Then I called 911, and then my house.²
Police believe that Howard Opticians was not targeted for any reason, and rather that the robbery was a crime of opportunity. While reluctant to change the way he manages his practice, the manager is considering taking extra security precautions. He would not offer any details, but he said he had to make sure he and his patients would feel safe.
³I will be getting some new security devices, and I want to let all my patients know that I am fine and will still be here to deliver them the best personal care that I can,² the manager said. ³A friend of mine told me to never sweat the small stuff, and that¹s what I said to myself when I was taped up on the floor with a gun to my head. It¹s all small stuff, and that thinking helped me stay calm and get through it. It could have been worse.²
Since the incident, it has been business as usual for the manager, although he continues to feel some anxiety. ³I had three patients I knew come in one day, and when a fourth one came in who I didn¹t know, I got nervous,² he said. ³I knew I wasn¹t [in danger], but you think about it after something like this happens.²
Police described the four suspects as follows: Subject one is a black male in his late teens to early 20s, 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 9, and was wearing a white tank top and jeans. Subject two is a black male in his late teens to early 20s, who was wearing a red shirt and a gray bandanna over his face. The third and fourth subjects were black males in their late teens.
An investigation is continuing, and police ask anyone with additional information about the robbery to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS.
On a positive note, the manager said he would be taking a vacation with his family for the first time in 20 years, though preparations were complicated by the robbery. When the subjects took his wallet, his driver¹s license went with it, which he needed to obtain a passport for the family¹s planned vacation in Mexico. With the help of friends from the New York State Society of Opticians, he was able to procure an emergency passport. ³I thought I was going to have to cancel the first family vacation in 20 years,² the manager said, adding with a chuckle, ³The moral of the story is, don¹t mess with opticians.²
Comments about this story? MSchnitzel@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
