A 68-year-old man was beaten by a grocery store employee and another man after the worker accused him of shoplifting inside a Bronx supermarket last month, according to police. The attack happened on September 21 at the Fine Fare Supermarket on East 167th Street near Gerard Avenue in Highbridge, and the NYPD is now asking the public to help identify the two suspects.
Cops said the victim was shopping inside the store when an employee accused him of stealing merchandise, as reported by the New York Daily News. The employee and a second man allegedly beat the 68-year-old. The victim refused medical attention at the scene, per the same report.
Police are appealing for tips that could lead to the suspects’ identification and arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, and all calls are kept confidential, the paper noted.
What the Law Says About Shopkeepers and Suspected Shoplifters
New York law gives store employees only limited authority to confront suspected shoplifters. The shopkeeper's privilege generally allows merchants to briefly detain suspected shoplifters for investigation, subject to reasonable limits.
The victim was 68 years old. It remains unclear whether the second suspect was also a store employee or an outside customer.
A Corridor With a History of Daytime Violence
The corner has seen other daytime attacks. In March, an on-duty NYPD crossing guard was punched in the chest at the same intersection during the morning school commute, News 12 Bronx reported.
The 44th Precinct covers Highbridge and Concourse in the southwest Bronx. Fine Fare, the grocery chain where the alleged beating occurred, operates 64 independently owned franchise locations nationwide, with 50 of them concentrated in New York State, according to data from ScrapeHero.
Retail Theft Tensions Simmer Across New York City
The confrontation unfolds against a backdrop of elevated shoplifting complaints across the five boroughs. Reported shoplifting in New York City peaked in 2022 at 68 percent above 2019 levels and has since declined by roughly 7 percent between 2023 and 2025, though it remains well above pre-pandemic benchmarks, per an analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice. Separately, NYPD figures reported through early 2025 showed major index crimes like murder, rape and robbery falling about 15 percent even as overall public crime complaints hit a decade high, driven by non-index offenses including shoplifting, harassment and drug sales, as reported by Gothamist.
New York State also moved to address retail violence more broadly last year. The Retail Worker Safety Act took effect in June 2025, requiring retail businesses with 10 or more employees to establish workplace violence prevention policies and train staff in conflict de-escalation, according to the New York State Department of Labor. Whether that training applies to the Fine Fare location involved in this incident has not been addressed by police.
Whether any stolen merchandise was actually recovered from the 68-year-old, and whether surveillance footage captured the initial accusation or the alleged beating itself, remain open questions in the investigation. The NYPD Crime Stoppers program, run alongside the nonprofit New York City Police Foundation, offers rewards of up to $3,500 for anonymous tips leading to an arrest and indictment in violent felony cases, according to information posted on the NYC.gov website.
