A 23-year-old entrepreneur received help from the New Rochelle PBA after his store was robbed last week.
Amir Bakiker made it his passion to ensure his wine and spirit shop stood out from others.
The store on Main Street has top-shelf choices and one-of-a-kind customer services.
“I want people to walk free and feel the positive ambiance to the store, and have an overall nice experience,” says Bakiker.
Unfortunately, last week he faced the feeling of devastation when his shop was robbed by an armed man. He tells News 12 there was a struggle, but the armed suspect ran off with hundreds of dollars from the register.
“The guy, I don’t know what was going through his head,” says Bakiker. “I feel bad about everything that happened.”
New Rochelle Detective Chris Greco was on duty that night and was one of the first officers to arrive.
He says he could see the hurt in Amir’s face. “It’s the holiday season and he lost some of his proceeds,” says Greco.
The head of the department’s police benevolent association wanted to do more to makeBakiker whole again.
“We wanted to come back and try and help him out,” says Greco. He returned to the store days later and made a big purchase on behalf of the PBA.
Greco encourages other police officers to make the same gesture. “I don’t think any crime suspects understand what they’re doing, how they are victimizing people, store owners or just people walking down the street,” says Greco. “I think it’s important to come back and show support for victims when we can.”
Bakiker tells News 12 the support means the world to him, saying in part, “For them to do that it means they want to support the local businesses…it’s a good thing, not everybody gets that.”