LIFE OF CRIME
Thief shot in Bx. store rob try had 40 arrests
The man shot dead by a Bronx supermarket owner he tried to rob had about 40 previous arrests, including a recent incident when he tried to slash someone at a nearby deli, police said Monday.
Daniel Meeks, 32, showed up twice Sunday night at the J Market on Morrison Ave. near E. 172nd St. in Soundview, police said.
The first time, according to Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea, he took money off the counter.
Two hours later, Shea said, he returned and tried to pull a stickup.
He demanded money, then tried to jump the counter, Shea said. The store’s owner, Jin Jie Chen, 43, shot Meeks in the head.
Meeks was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where he died. Police said it did not appear he had a weapon.
Chen has a license for his gun, police said, and has other licenses for other firearms. He was questioned Monday by detectives at the 43rd Precinct, then released without being charged.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the case would be presented to a grand jury.
Meeks, who lived about a half-mile from the store, has more than three dozen arrests on his record, including for robbery and weapons possession.
On July 6, inside NY Famous Deli on E. 172nd St., a few blocks from where he was killed, Meeks was arrested after he asked a man for change, then tried to take the money from him and slash him, police said.
Last Wednesday, police said, Meeks was busted for petty larceny for stealing a case of water from a Rite Aid on White Plains Road. He was sentenced to time served and was fined, according to records.
Chen could not be reached for comment, but a woman who lives nearby and shops at his market said the store doesn’t tolerate shoplifters and other troublemakers.
“They have big TVs in the store, and whenever someone steals they put their picture in the front, saying, ‘This person stole milk,’ or “This person stole ice cream’ or ‘This person stole beer,’ said the customer, Patricia, 27.
“He was protecting his business,” she added. “Once everything is better I’m going to continue to go there. It’s a good store to go to.”