Suave robber steals smoke shop worker’s phone, Airpods, plus $700 at gunpoint

BY THE VILLAGE SUN | In the latest robbery of an East Side smoke shop, a nattily dressed gunman knocked off one on New Year’s Day, according to police.

Cops said that Saturday around 9:15 p.m., the suspect entered the Villager Smoke Shop, at 445 E. Ninth St., just east of Avenue A, and approached the 21-year-old male employee behind the counter.

Around 6 feet 2 inches tall, the cool customer was thin, with black hair in a slick cut, wearing a black face mask, a dark dress jacket, a gray dress vest, a white dress shirt, gray pants and black shoes.

At first he asked about products available for purchase. But he then showed a black-and-silver firearm stuck in his waistband and demanded property and cash from the store employee, threatening to kill him. He then covered the gun with his jacket again, told the worker to drop his hands and casually leaned on the counter as he continued to talk to him.

The robber made off with the employee’s personal cell phone and Apple Airpods, plus around $700 in cash from the register. He fled in unknown direction. The employee was not injured.

Police released surveillance video and photos of the alleged suspect from the incident location.

Five days earlier, on Mon., Dec. 27, around noon, two robbers armed with a gun hit the Dubai Cannabis Supply store at 105 Stanton St. on the Lower East Side, getting away with roughly $2,000 in cash.

Police ask that anyone with information call the N.Y.P.D.’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted on the Crime Stoppers Web site at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on Twitter at @NYPDTips. All tips are strictly confidential.