Police are hunting an armed robber who held up a halal butcher and market in New Jersey and made off with $30,000 and a passport.
The robbery occurred Sept. 21 at Paradise Halal Meat in Paterson, with surveillance video obtained Saturday by News 12 New Jersey showing a masked man bursting into a back office of the business, which is both a slaughterhouse and a marketplace, then pointing a gun at shop owner Abdelgawad Elsayed.
“Hurry up, give me everything, shouts the suspect. “Put everything in the bag.”
Elsayed quickly follows and hands over all the cash — about $30,000 — from a drawer, video shows.
On another occasion, the robber can be seen holds up the phone and shows Elsayed a photo of a woman he apparently knows.
“Give me the paper,” the man adds, referring to documents, including passports and social security numbers.
Elsayed follows again.
The store owner’s son, Mohammed Elsayed, told News 12 his father was “scared” and left traumatized by the encounter.
“He hasn’t come to the store since it happened,” Mohammed said. “It’s kind of hard to have someone point a gun at you”
Mohammed also explained why there was so much cash in the store.
“We buy between $30,000 and $40,000 worth of meat from the auction every week,” he told the news station.
Patterson law enforcement is asking anyone with information about the case to contact police. No other details were provided.
Originally published: