Video Shows Queens Store Worker Passing Out During Chokehold Robbery And Stabbing
June 26, 2019, 2:37 p.m.
The victim's brother said he was almost choked 'to death.'
The exterior of 98-51 63rd Road in Queens
A Queens store worker is recovering after being violently attacked at a Rego Park business earlier this month. Police released video of the employee being put in a sleeper hold before he was dragged out of frame, and stabbed in the neck by a second suspect. The NYPD hopes the public can help identify the man who put him in the chokehold.
The incident took place inside a candy store at 98-51 63rd Road, just before 7:30 a.m. on June 15th. According to the NYPD, the 21-year-old worker was approached by an unidentified male who then "choked and dragged the victim to the floor." A second identified male—Christopher Castellano, 33—allegedly stabbed the worker, and has since been arrested/charged. Both men fled the scene after the attack, and after removing $2200 from the register.
The victim was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital Queens in stable condition.
The first suspect—seen in this video—is still at large, and police say he is about 25-35 years old.
CBS New York reports that the victim is Raed Ali; his brother said, "He was choked almost to death and while he was choked he lost conscious[ness]," adding, "The stab wounds went right here in the neck, right below the chin."
Ali reportedly is too upset to return to work.
Anyone with information in regard to the identity of the male 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 CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
