Dramatic surveillance footage shows the moment two brazen thieves ripped an ATM out of an East Village bodega before making off with the loot.
PHOTO CAPTION: Jose Dario Collado, 48, owner of Yankee Deli & Grocery in the East Village.
The newly released footage shows a white van back up to the Yankee Deli & Grocery on Avenue C at 4:35 a.m. Friday, with a rope or chain tied to something inside the store — yanking the ATM out onto the street on the second attempt.
The two masked burglars then run over and open the back of the van and struggle for about 2 minutes to load the massive machine into the vehicle before finally speeding off.
“A lot of people know me and never, I never put in m mind something could happen like that,” store owner Jose Collado, who has run the store for 27 years, said at a press conference Sunday.
“Somebody called me and say, ‘You know what happened?’” Collado said. “I say no. I very scared. He told me something like that. I come quickly to the store and see everything down. I feel badly.”
“It’s like $10,000” to repair the damage, he said.
On Sunday, the head of the United Bodegas Of America said it was part of a disturbing crime trend targeting small businesses in the Big Apple.
“Every day we hear from different bodega owners about robberies and burglaries and their safes being stolen and their ATM has been pulled away,” said Fernando Matero, who says the group represents 14,000 stores. “But nothing like what we saw here.”
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