Two thieves went up to a customer outside one of New York City's best-known burger spots and tried to take the man's watch off his wrist before one of the robbers fired a shot, according to police.
In a stunning mid-day attack at JG Melon's on the Upper East Side on Saturday, the victim — a man visiting from out of state — was approached by two men as he waited for a table before 4 p.m. While he stood outside the restaurant, the robbers tried to forcibly take his watch, which police said was valued at $30,000.
"Two guys just walked up to me, in broad daylight, and put their hand on my wrist to try and grab my watch and proceeded to wave a gun around," the victim, who did not wish to be identified, told NBC New York over the phone.
At some point during the altercation, the gun fired, sending people scrambling.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
"We made a run for it and we heard a shot get fired. No one was hit, so we are all OK. It was a crazy incident to happen during the day on the Upper East Side," said the victim, who took shelter inside the restaurant with other customers.
"The team work. They’re a really special group. They care about each other. They care about the customers," said JG Melon owner Jaine O'Neill, who was not surprised to hear how her staff reacted, was still stunned by the broad daylight attack in the quiet neighborhood.
"Fortunately I put in a lot of extra cameras last week, extra surveillance cameras. They were installed last week. So we got some really good footage," O'Neill said.
News
Ultimately, the would-be robbers did not get the victim's watch and took off on a scooter. The victim was not hurt.
Police are looking to put out photos of the attackers. An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information in regard to the incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website.
