A pair of masked burglars broke into a supermarket on 86th Street and left with a cool $9,000 in dough, but they were lucky the owners — well-boiled at helping cops nab perps — weren’t home to derail their ill-gotten gravy train.
“If it had happened face-to-face, it would have been a whole different story!” thundered Joey Othman, the eldest of three brothers who made headlines in 2008 when they helped police capture knife-wielding burglars at their other meat market on Fifth Avenue between 83rd and 84th streets.
Cops said this time the burglars, who are still on the lam, were caught on a surveillance in the early hours of Oct. 16, busting into the back door of the new Pioneer grocery on Fifth Avenue between Gelston Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway, and heading straight for the office where they stole the cash from a filing cabinet.
The perps managed to escape, thanks to a faulty alarm system, but store security has since been beefed up, Othman said.
“It’s like Fort Knox now, more gates, heavier steel, a lot more heavier-duty doors.”
The siblings are well-seasoned in serving a side of comeuppance to crooks: the 2008 goons flashed knives and demanded cash, but the brothers had other plans.
“They had knives. We had bigger knives,” remembered Othman, who was surprised that his store was hit again.
“[Things] happen. I just never thought it would happen here,” he said. “Sooner or later, we’ll catch them.”
Reach reporter Dan MacLeod at dmacleod@cnglocal.com or by calling him at (718) 260-4507. You can also follow his Tweets at @dsmacleod.
