A smoke shop clerk who watched in horror as his friend got stabbed during a robbery last week said it was the third time the same crew ransacked the Manhattan store — with the latest assault particularly unsettling.
“They were brazen,” the clerk told The Post Sunday. “He came in and I said, ‘You’re on camera!’ but he didn’t give a f–k. He just told me he was going to stab me.”
Three unidentified assailants robbed the display cases inside the Flower World Dispensary at 65 Nassau Street around 7 p.m. Thursday, according to police.
An employee tried to stop them, and the thieves took off.
But one of the robbers had dropped a backpack, and when the trio returned, they stabbed the 24-year-old victim in the right shoulder.
The callous crooks grabbed the backpack, stole more merchandise and fled, police said.
Authorities brought the victim to NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital for treatment.
The counter clerk said the victim, who is a friend of his, has since been released.
The clerk said he’s still shocked at the shameless thieves, who didn’t even try to break into the cash register.
“They didn’t give a f–k about the money,” the clerk said. “All three times, they weren’t interested in the money. They only wanted the product.”
The stabbing is the latest in a string of attacks, robberies and killings inside the city’s 1,500 illicit smoke shops that officials are desperate to rein in.
Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a law boosting penalties for stores selling weed without a license, and giving enforcement authority to the state’s Office of Cannabis Management and the Department of Taxation and Finance.
The city’s marijuana regulators have since promised to crack down on illegal markets that have been a magnet for violent crimes.
In April, 21-year-old alleged gang member Messiah Nantwi fired several rounds at a fellow patron in a smoke shop in Harlem, police said. The chilling, caught-on-camera execution left a 36-year-old Brooklyn man dead on the floor.
In mid-March, a worker at a Queens smoke shop was fatally shot during a robbery gone bad.
Robberies at stoner-friendly shops have jumped by 10% since 2022, Police Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a March 20 city council meeting.
The clerk at the Nassau Street store said he’s going to boost security there, possibly installing more security cameras or a magnetic door that can be locked with the push of a button.
“I was shook up,” the clerk said. “I just needed a day — like a mental health day. I was done. But I’m fine now …I do have to admit that every new customer that comes in, I’m definitely more wary. I’m not letting my guard down.”
Anyone with information about Thursday’s attack should call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). They can also submit tips on the CrimeStoppers website.
