Lancet Jades
06-12-2004, 07:34 PM
Pint-size perps
rob laundermat
By TOM RAFTERY
and TAMER EL-GHOBASHY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
A 13-year-old bandit held up a Harlem laundry attendant at knifepoint, ignoring his even younger pint-sized sidekick's pleas to "leave her alone," police said yesterday.
As the older boy menaced the female worker with the knife and demanded cash Wednesday night, the other one - who appeared to about 10 years old - whimpered and pleaded for his friend not to hurt her.
"The little one was crying, saying, 'Leave her alone, don't do it,'" said a slightly amused 22-year-old worker at the Lexington Ave. laundry.
"They're little brats," said the worker, who did not want her name used. "But I don't know what I would have done. I'd be scared."
Taking a cue from the pros, the diminutive duo staked out the Star Bright Laundromat until it was empty just before the 10 p.m. closing time Wednesday.
Then they busted in and the older boy told the worker to hand over the cash. When she hesitated, he forced her to the back as his buddy cried.
Cops said the victim was unsure how much the kids got away with. She later helped police scour the busy neighborhood for the boys but no arrests were made.
The worker said she recognized the little looters from the neighborhood.
"She knew them from a group of boys that come here and do laundry," the attendant on duty said yesterday. "They're rowdy but I would have never thought they would do this."
The brazen robbery shocked some people on the busy block near E. 126th St., where the handful of shops stay open well past 10 p.m. A McDonald's and a Duane Reade share the street with several smaller businesses. "I'm surprised," said Hamood Tairi, 40, who owns one of three bodegas on the block. "It's a busy location and there are always police nearby on 125th St."
rob laundermat
By TOM RAFTERY
and TAMER EL-GHOBASHY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
A 13-year-old bandit held up a Harlem laundry attendant at knifepoint, ignoring his even younger pint-sized sidekick's pleas to "leave her alone," police said yesterday.
As the older boy menaced the female worker with the knife and demanded cash Wednesday night, the other one - who appeared to about 10 years old - whimpered and pleaded for his friend not to hurt her.
"The little one was crying, saying, 'Leave her alone, don't do it,'" said a slightly amused 22-year-old worker at the Lexington Ave. laundry.
"They're little brats," said the worker, who did not want her name used. "But I don't know what I would have done. I'd be scared."
Taking a cue from the pros, the diminutive duo staked out the Star Bright Laundromat until it was empty just before the 10 p.m. closing time Wednesday.
Then they busted in and the older boy told the worker to hand over the cash. When she hesitated, he forced her to the back as his buddy cried.
Cops said the victim was unsure how much the kids got away with. She later helped police scour the busy neighborhood for the boys but no arrests were made.
The worker said she recognized the little looters from the neighborhood.
"She knew them from a group of boys that come here and do laundry," the attendant on duty said yesterday. "They're rowdy but I would have never thought they would do this."
The brazen robbery shocked some people on the busy block near E. 126th St., where the handful of shops stay open well past 10 p.m. A McDonald's and a Duane Reade share the street with several smaller businesses. "I'm surprised," said Hamood Tairi, 40, who owns one of three bodegas on the block. "It's a busy location and there are always police nearby on 125th St."