Gun and roses faceoff
Robber shoves Bx. store clerk, flashes pistol in flower ripoff
After a gunman shoved a Bronx flower stall clerk to the ground, flashed a gun and ran off with a bouquet of roses, the rattled family that runs the shop is relieved that the incident proved to be no more than a thorn in their side.
The crook first asked about buying the flowers at Ortega Flowers at E. Gun Hill Road and Jerome Ave. in Norwood on Monday evening — just days after Valentine's — cops said. He was told they cost about $10.
“He said to me, ‘Gimme, because I'm not going to pay you,'” Oscar Rodriguez told the Daily News on Tuesday, speaking in Spanish.
Rodriguez lives in the area and helps his sister Maria Ortega, 42, several times a week at the flower stall.
The clerk opened the door to confront him, but the thief was standing in the way.
The man then shoved the 39-year-old worker to the ground.
“When I fell, he took the opportunity to grab the flowers,” Rodriguez said. “Then I reacted. I had scissors, and well, I was going to hurt him. He didn't leave me much time. When he stepped out, he put his hand in his bag, and he pulled out two or three — I couldn't see very well — but he pulled out some bullets.
“He said, ‘These are for you.'”
The robber also lifted his shirt, displaying a firearm tucked into his waistband.
The clerk said would he have chased the man down with his scissors but stopped after the thief made the menacing firearm display.
The robber ran off with the bouquet as the startled worker yelled after him.
“They need to capture him, because this is very bad,” Rodriguez said. “It's not fair because there are a lot of good people who work hard, work from the early morning until night. They work for their food everyday and to pay their bills, they wake up early … it's just not right.”
Cops arrived within minutes and, with Rodriguez, scoured the streets for the perp to no avail.
Police released surveillance footage of the suspect and are asking for the public's help identifying and tracking him down.
Maria Ortega, who usually runs the shop, is relieved that she and her son, who frequently joins her, weren't there when the man approached.
“Women don't have the strength to fight a man,” she said. “So I don't know what would have happened if I had been here. I have been here for a long time, for two years, I've been in this location and nobody has disrespected me. Everyone knows me here, I respect them, and they respect me.”
Ortega's son often comes to the stall and does his homework after school, his family said.
“I'm a little angry. As Hispanics, we are in a country full of opportunities to fight, to help our families move forward,” Ortega said. “This is not fair, that's not fair.”
Anyone with information about the gunman is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.