A Bronx construction worker carrying $100,000 from his recently cashed workman’s compensation settlement check was bum rushed in Concourse by three men who beat him and took his money, police said Thursday.
The 47-year-old victim flashed his cash, which he was carrying in a backpack, as he made a purchase inside a bodega at the corner of Walton Ave. and E. 167th St. on September 12.
“Wow!” police quoted a customer in the store as saying. “That’s a lot of money.”
The victim got the settlement after he suffered an injury in 2020 while working in construction.
After the purchase in the bodega, the victim left and went to meet a friend nearby, behind a building on Gerard Ave. near McClellan St. in Concourse.
As he sat on a bench and waited for his friend, the three suspects came up from behind and assaulted him. They punched, kicked him and beat him with a stick before they took his camouflage-patterned backpack, which held the cash, and ran off, police said.
Besides the $100,000 in cash, the backpack also contained personal identification cards and documents, said police.
Police released a photo of a suspect escaping with the bag. He’s about 30 years old, Black and slim with braided black hair. His accomplices are about the same age and are both dark-skinned, said police.
The bodega customer who saw the money in the backpack was not among the three, but police said it’s possible he tipped off the trio.
Anyone with information is asked to call the CrimeStoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.
