Man Shot Harlem Deli Workers With BB Gun After Being Carded for Tobacco: Store Owner

A man upset that a clerk asked him for ID before selling him a cigar attacked employees at a Harlem store and shot two of them with a BB gun, the store’s owner and police say.

Zayed Jaren, the owner of Z and S Candy and Tobacco Store on Lenox Avenue, said the man came into the store on Friday and tried to buy a $5 cigar. The man got upset when the clerk asked him to show ID because a city law raising the tobacco age to from 18 to 21 had gone into effect.

Surveillance footage from the store shows the man growing irate, spewing obscenities and threats at the clerk before leaving.

“I’m a really violent person. You sure you wanna do that?” the angry customer told the clerk.

Then, on Sunday, Jaren said, the man came back twice to attack employees. In his first attack, the man can be seen on surveillance footage jumping over the counter while customers were inside and appearing to hit the clerk.

The footage then shows a clerk coming at the man with a baseball bat. The suspect and workers argue for a few moments before getting in a scuffle.

The man eventually left, but Jaren said he returned again about 9 p.m. with a mask and a BB gun. He shot at everyone inside, hitting Jaren twice in the chest and his son three times.

“He started shooting in the store all over like crazy,” Jaren said.

Police say that in that attack, the suspect came in with three accomplices, who also assaulted the employees.

No one in the store had any serious injuries.

Anyone with information about the man or the other suspects is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-888-577-TIPS or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.

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