Police searching for a man who attempted to rob a jewelry store yesterday, only to run off when his gun fell apart. At roughly 4 p.m. Sunday the would-be robber entered Rafaello and Co. Jewelry at 22 West 47th Street and asked to have a look at one of the chains on display.
One of the store's employees went to the back to retrieve a key for the display case, at which point the man pulled out his gun and placed it to another employee's head, causing her to scream. The other employee rushed back and began fighting with the thief for control of the handgun.
The thief was able to step back from the fight and tried to fire his gun, at which point it fell to pieces. The man ran out of the store empty-handed and was last seen fleeing east on 47th Street, police say.
The suspect is described as between 20 to 25 years old, 6'2" tall and 160 lbs. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, black pants, black shoes, and a black baseball cap.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
