A quiet evening at a Bronx grocery store turned into chaos when a group of people stormed inside and launched a violent rampage that left workers shaken and customers scrambling for safety.
The frightening scene unfolded around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at a Key Food supermarket in the Allerton neighborhood of the Bronx. According to the store’s owner, a group of five teens — four girls and one boy — burst into the store yelling and immediately started causing trouble.
Owner Miguel Garcia said the group appeared to be looking for someone involved in an earlier argument. Just minutes before the incident, the same boy had reportedly been inside the store with another group when a customer confronted him after he allegedly struck someone and was told to “have some manners.”
Security footage later showed the teens returning to the store, apparently searching for that customer. But when they couldn’t find him, they turned their anger on the store’s security guard.
“The security guard told them, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about,’” Garcia said.
That’s when the situation exploded.
One of the girls suddenly stepped up to the guard and slapped him across the face. Moments later, the store’s head cashier — a 23-year-old college student — stepped in and told the teens they couldn’t attack the guard.
That’s when the group turned on her.
According to Garcia, the teens began punching the young cashier, ripping out chunks of her hair and smashing her glasses during the brutal attack. Surveillance video shows the employee being knocked to the ground while trying to shield herself from the blows.
The security guard attempted to break up the fight, but the teens continued to attack as the chaos unfolded inside the store.
Terrified customers rushed to escape the violence. One mother was seen covering her toddler’s eyes while hurrying out of the store.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
“This is a supermarket. You come here to shop and you leave,” Garcia said. “I’m not supposed to have a customer covering her baby’s eyes.”
Several bystanders eventually managed to force the teens out of the store before they ran off.
Police and paramedics arrived shortly afterward, but the suspects had already fled. As of now, no arrests have been made. Authorities are reportedly searching for four of the individuals involved.
The young cashier who was attacked has worked at the store for five years but is now taking time off because she is too shaken to return.
“She’s still in shock. She’s still shaky. She’s scared,” Garcia said.
Another employee who hid during the attack reportedly quit immediately afterward, saying she no longer felt safe working there.
Garcia said incidents involving violent teens have become an increasing problem in the area and fears the group could return.
“When they came back, they came to fight,” he said. “There was no reason for this.”
Francisco Marte, founder and president of the Bodega and Small Business Group, is now urging police to track down those responsible.
“It is incredibly frustrating — and frankly exhausting — to see innocent people targeted for something they didn’t even do,” Marte said. “We want there to be consequences for the perpetrators.”
Leave a Reply