Actor Michael Rapaport filmed a brazen theft in broad daylight at a Rite Aid in New York’s Upper Eastside as a security guard looked on helplessly.
In the video posted to his Instagram on Monday, Michael Rapaport films the masked thief casually walking through the front door past the security guard while carrying several bags loaded with stolen goods in broad daylight.
“I can’t believe I’m seeing this shit!” the True Romance star exclaims in the video. “He’s walking down the street like shit is Gucci, he looked me in the face like ‘what’s good.’ I was watching him the whole time! My man just went Christmas shopping in January.”
The video has since garnered over 100k views.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the Atypical actor said criminals are hitting the streets and brazenly stealing in broad daylight due to a lack of consequences and soft-on-crime policies.
“These criminals know there are no ramifications. We have to put more of these motherfuckers in jail,” he said. “You see all these videos on Instagram of people shoplifting like they’re going for a walk in the park. ‘It’s pathetic that this is happening in the greatest city in the world.”
The security guard seen in the video allegedly told Rapaport that the Rite Aid on 81st Street and 1st Avenue has been robbed on almost a daily basis and will be closing on February 15 along with 63 other locations due to the spike in thefts.
Michael Rapaport blamed the spike on former New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio for his soft-on-crime stance hoped that Mayor Eric Adams will change course.
“I think Eric Adams knows what’s going on, he knows how to deal with crime. I’m just hoping he lives up to our expectations,” he said.
Rapaport lamented that he relies on the neighborhood Rite Aid for his mood stabilizers and will have to travel further to another pharmacy now that the location will be closing due to theft.
Rapaport’s video comes as New York faces a pressing crime wave after two NYPD officers were killed in the line of duty when a man opened fire during a domestic call. The horrific deaths occurred after an 11-month old baby was shot in the face in the Bronx.
New York Mayor Eric Adams unveiled his “Blueprint to End Gun Violence” earlier this week that will ramp up law enforcement efforts and deploy more officers on the streets and subways.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.