Chilling new details have emerged about the New Jersey pet store owner who took a crossbow bolt to the face Monday evening — with a co-worker describing how the assailant hid in the aisle before popping out to shoot her.
Katarina Rukavishnikova was working at her store, Birds by Joe 2 on Route 46 in Saddle Brook, on Monday evening when her attacker launched his shock assault, authorities said.
“He was crouched down hiding behind one of the aisles, and she came walking down the aisle and he just stood up, popped out right in front of her and shot her in the face,” the clerk said of alleged 53-year-old triggerman Raymond M. Carey, of nearby Hasbrouck Heights.
“He’s a customer! He’s a regular customer!” the clerk continued. “He has been for years — he usually buys parrot food, he comes in once a month.”
The medieval-style attack left workers bewildered — and Rukavishnikova in the hospital after cops responded to a 911 call about a seriously injured woman.
Carey fled after the brutal act, but local and federal authorities collared him in a tiny Jersey Shore town near Toms River at about 1 p.m. the following day, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office said.
He’s been charged with first-degree attempted murder, among other things, and imprisoned in Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, according to court records.
Meanwhile, Rukavishnikova had already returned to work the next day.
On Wednesday, the gritty store owner had wrapped her wounded face in a white silk scarf.
“She came back on Tuesday because she loves her birds,” the clerk said.
“The food and water has to be changed daily, and she has to cut up a bunch of fresh fruit for certain birds and she’s impeccable. When it comes to the care of these birds, it’s her love, she’s phenomenal.”
Rukavishnikova has had a run of rough luck over the last few months — in late January, a brazen thief swiped a $7,000 parrot during a wild daylight sortie.
The suspect — later identified as 24-year-old Onyx Calderon of Paterson — waltzed into her store and asked to see the pricey African Grey parrot.
He was asking the right questions, Rukavishnikova told The Post last month, and she thought he wanted to buy the expensive bird.
Instead, he seized the cage — with the African Grey inside — and flew the coop.
“It actually took me a few seconds to realize what was happening — the reality of it,” she said. “This never happened to us.”
The store’s security cameras caught the whole thing, and Birds by Joe later posted screengrabs to the store’s Instagram account.
The African Grey is known for its intelligence and uncanny mimicry skills — and the bird is a coveted exotic pet that can fetch a pretty penny on the black market.
Cops eventually recovered the bird at a Paterson home earlier this month following a tip, Rukavishnikova said.
Soon, the bird will be headed for a new home, the co-worker added.
“He’s back in the store, he’s doing great and he’s sold!” the clerk said. “He’s just waiting for the new owner to pick him up.”
