79-Year Old Bklyn Jeweler Brutally Beaten by Thieves in Heist; Son Blames Bail Reform
Edited by: TJVNews.com
As violent crime continues to dramatically spiral in New York City and with no relief in sight, it was reported by the New York Post on Wednesday that an elderly Brooklyn jeweler was sent to the ICU after a pair of brazen thieves attacked him before robbing his store of six figures worth of merchandise — as his family decried criminals’ “golden ticket” to wreak havoc in the Big Apple.
Manny Cohen, 79, was closing Roxy Jewelry Store on Flatbush Avenue around 5:30 p.m. on December 30th when two men forced their way inside and beat him within an inch of his life, the Post reported.
Speaking to The Post on Wednesday, Cohen’s son, Shawn, described the horror of finding out what had happened to his dad after he failed to return home for Friday night dinner. “My father did not answer his phone calls, and that prompted me to check the cameras,” Shawn Cohen said, as was reported by the Post. He added: “Once I scrolled back on the camera, I saw that he was being robbed … I saw that they were beating my father to death.”
Shawn Cohen told the Post that surveillance footage showed the depraved thieves attempting to hide his father’s body under the subfloor — before spending over 20 minutes stuffing their pockets full of jewelry.
According to the NYPD, the violent robbers stole more than $100,000 in merchandise from the Brooklyn store. On Sunday, the police department released an image of the suspects who have not been apprehended as of yet.
On Wednesday, the son of the jewelry store owner said that his father is still in the ICU with a severe brain injury and his prognosis for survival is still unclear, the Post reported.
Commenting on the sheer brutality of the thieves, the son said, “They did everything with the intention to kill a 79-year-old.”
This is not the first time that Shawn Cohen’s father has been assaulted. He told the Post that his father, who has operated Roxy Jewelry for the last quarter century was attacked last month when someone threw a rock at him while he was helping a customer, the Post reported. His father had to get staples in his head as a result of the ruthless attack.
The younger Cohen also told the Post, “From the description at the time, we believe it was the same people who did this second attack.”
He also told the Post that he had confidence in the NYPD’s ability to find and apprehend the attackers but that he had “zero confidence” that they would be kept off the streets and that true justice would not be meted out to them.
Cohen observed that, “for anyone to do this, they have to feel confident enough and brave enough to make such an attack. Criminals have a golden ticket from the prosecutor’s office to carry out these kind of attacks in New York City.”
The Post reported that news of Cohen’s vicious attack comes shortly after year-end statistics showed that felony assaults and robberies spiked in the Big Apple during 2022.
While Mayor Eric Adams has lauded progress on public safety, critics have pointed the finger at the state’s lax criminal justice reforms for emboldening criminals, the paper indicated.
