Fugitive Arrested in Connection with Violent Manhattan Robbery

Law enforcement officials revealed on Tuesday that a fugitive linked to the robbery of a 99-year-old homeowner in Manhattan has been arrested. Tragically, the victim suffered a stroke and passed away following the $20,000 robbery.

The suspect, a 39-year-old man, is believed to have stolen rent money from Jose Antonio Tour, the elderly owner of a building in Washington Heights, on September 22. Officials reported that he was apprehended in Philadelphia on September 29, just a week later.

As of Tuesday, he was still waiting to be extradited back to New York.

Details about the suspect’s presence in Philadelphia remain unclear. According to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenney, the suspect approached the elderly homeowner around 10 a.m., claiming to have a package to deliver to one of the apartments in the building located on West 187th Street near Audubon Avenue.

The caller asked the senior to meet him at a side entrance, which was suspicious because it suggested that anyone unfamiliar with the building wouldn’t know about that entrance. When the victim attempted to open the gate, the assailant forcefully pushed him aside.

Kenney shared that the elderly man attempted to fight back, but during their struggle, his hand got caught between the gate and the metal frame, leading to an injury that required stitches.

Once inside the basement of the building, the suspect brandished a gun and demanded access to Tour’s office, where he took at least $20,000 in rent money stored in a cabinet. It appears that the robber had prior knowledge of Tour’s routine, as he was aware of where the money was kept.

Tour, originally from Cuba, worked for eight years as a porter before purchasing the Washington Heights building in 1979.

After the robbery, the 90-year-old man was transported to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center with broken fingers and hand injuries, according to police reports. Following this, he suffered a stroke that resulted in paralysis on one side of his body and complications with swallowing and eating, as shared by his grandson, Jose Miguel Tour.

Once in intensive care, Tour was later moved to hospice care, where he sadly passed away last Wednesday. His grandson expressed deep anger and frustration over the growing lawlessness in New York and criticized the lack of accountability for such crimes. He described it as a failing system and lamented the deterioration of safety in the city.

Mr. Tour, a former ship merchant from Cuba, bought the building after working as a porter. Interestingly, he had been the target of an attack in another building across the street shortly after bail reforms were implemented in 2020. His grandson recalled that a young man with a significant criminal history attempted to break into that property.

“My grandfather was really disheartened by how chaotic the city has become,” his grandson reflected, emphasizing that while things had improved at one time, they have unfortunately deteriorated again.