Robber takes 3 hostages in NYC, holds gun to victim’s head during 2-hour standoff with cops
A would-be robber held three people hostage inside a New York City check-cashing store — even holding a gun to one victim’s head — during a two-hour stand-off with cops on Saturday night, police said.
It was only after the man was caught that cops learned his weapon was a fake.
The suspect – identified by sources as Ronaldo Estudillo Morales, 38 – walked into Darwin Money cash check store on Irving Avenue in Bushwick around 7:45 p.m. “acting like he was going to do a transaction, then announced a robbery,” NYPD chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters on Saturday night.
“We learned that this man might have been experiencing some money trouble,” Maddrey said, “having problems with making his rent, maybe some gambling issues that are still being worked out.”
There were two employees and a customer inside the business at the time, cops said – and one of the employees was able to escape and call 911.
When police arrived they found the front door barricaded shut with “multiple chairs,” Maddrey said.
Hostage negotiators started a conversation with the suspect, who pointed a gun at police officers through the window and held the weapon to one of the hostage’s heads.
The chief said cops got Morales’ brother to talk to him and had his wife and one of his sons brought to the scene to help talk him out.
After speaking for two hours, the suspect “climbed out of a window in the rear of the building, down a ladder and he surrendered to officers,” Maddrey said.
The firearm he had pointed at police officers was later determined to be a fake, cops said.
The man began hyperventilating while in police custody and was treated by EMS before being taken to an area hospital.
The two hostages, who were not injured, were also taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Law enforcement sources told the Post that Morales was charged with attempted robbery and two counts of kidnapping on Sunday.
