Frightening footage shows the moment brazen thieves rammed a SUV onto the sidewalk and stole $20,000 in cash from its driver at gunpoint on Manhattan’s Upper East Side – a bizarre heist that has left police searching for the still-at large suspects.
The dramatic scene shocked bystanders on Second Avenue between 91 and 92 streets around 4:40 pm Saturday, when two cars came speeding down the wrong side of the road against traffic, in an apparent high-speed chase.
The video clip captured by a bystander shows the car being driven by the victim, a Silver Toyota Rav-4, zooming down the avenue at high speeds, before it is overtaken by black Mercedes-Benz being driven by the assailants, which slams into the SUV.
Still hitting the gas, the suspects continue to accelerate and ram the Toyota, causing it to spin out as its driver continues to try to get away.
At that point, the Mercedes driver again steps on the gas and pushes the other car up onto the sidewalk, where another chase ensued, causing bystanders who flocked to the scene to flee and jump out of the way.
Both vehicles then move off the sidewalk into an adjacent bus lane, where the Mercedes again gives chase and rams the Toyota a second time, again turning it 180 degrees, this time forcing it to a stop, the video shows.
A man armed with a handgun then exits the passenger side of the Mercedes, approaches the other vehicle, and is seen banging on the glass with the weapon, menacing the driver – who cops believe knew the assailants.
That’s when police say the thief snatched a stack of cash to the tune of $20,000, before jumping back inside the Mercedes and driving off. No injuries were reported as a result of the incident – and the suspects as of Sunday morning are still at large.
‘He’s got a gun! He’s got a gun!’ an onlooker can be heard shouting in the clip, which has been widely shared on social media since the brazen broad daylight attack.
NYPD officials added that the armed robbers ditched the Mercedes a few blocks from the crime scene.