Video shows a woman in the Bronx stealing money from a child and beating the boy’s mother

NEW YORK — Video shows a woman stealing money from a child in the Bronx, then hitting his mother and walking away.

It happened just before noon on Sept. 24 at Richard’s Fruit and Vegetable grocery store on Jerome Avenue.

Security video from inside the store shows a 7-year-old boy standing near the counter with cash in his hand and a woman opening the door and speaking to the boy with her hand outstretched. As the boy approaches her, the woman snatches the money out of his hand and then leaves the store.

Surveillance cameras outside the store captured the boy’s mother approaching the woman and reaching for the money, but the woman pushed her hand away, slapped the mother in the face and then walked away.

The mother was treated at the scene and no one was seriously injured.

Anyone who recognizes the suspect or has additional information about this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted on the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org.

“It was crazy”

Eric Vidals, co-owner of the convenience store, said employees had seen the suspect in the area in the past but had not seen her since the incident.

“She is always outside asking for money. That’s the only thing she does, but you know, that day she just took the money from the little kid. It was crazy,” he said.

Vidals says the woman only got away with a few dollars, but he can’t remember the last time such an incident occurred in the store’s 27-year history.

“We heard: Down the block, around the corner, you know, there’s always something going on,” he said.