A maniac bit a Bronx Family Dollar worker who tried to stop him from shoplifting – and then slashed another employee during a violent heist this week, cops said.
The suspect barged into the discount store on Webster Avenue near East 168th Street in Morrisania around 2:35 p.m. Monday and started swooping up unspecified items from the shelves, police said.
Two employees, Yerime Dieye, 22, and a 24-year-old woman, tried to intervene, authorities said.
That’s when the brutal thief bit the male worker on his arm and finger – and slashed the woman on her arm with a knife, cops said.
The violence caused enough of a distraction to allow him to get away with his loot, police said.
Dieye refused medical attention, and the slashed employee was taken to BronxCare Health System, where she was listed in stable condition, authorities said.
She is now home recuperating from the harrowing ordeal.
The NYPD released a photo of the robber, described male, 18 to 21 years old and last seen wearing a green sweater, khaki pants, and black sneakers.
He is also seen carrying a red bag slung over his shoulder.
Dieye is a field specialist with Family dollar who is assigned to different locations.
The bite marks on Dieye’s hand had started to fade when he talked to The Post Wednesday, but his memories of his encounter with the knife-wielding maniac were vivid.
He was assigned to the Webster Avenue location when he said he heard a commotion in the back of the store. Dieye went to investigate.
“When I get there, I see him reaching into his bag and he’s saying something like ‘you’re gonna find out,’” Dieye said of the deranged attacker.
That’s when the suspect pulled out a knife and Dieye heroically leapt into action.
“I grab his hand. I was trying to stop him from taking it out but he starts biting my hand,” he said. “He slashed my coworker’s arm and she ran off.”
Eventually, he was able to escort her to safety.
“I got her to the back to the bathroom so she can clean herself off,” he said.
The female victim, who is still reeling from the horrifying experience she endured, told The Post she was not ready to speak yet.
Dieye, who has been with Family Dollar for three years while he attends college, has returned to work.
He said the chain has security but they only work in the afternoons and nights, and the store opens at 8 a.m. in the morning.
“I’m a field specialist so I work in different stores and drop by sometimes,” he said. “This is a problem we have been having in each of the stores.”
The crime comes about a week after the NYPD revealed that shoplifting arrests within the five boroughs are up 144% compared to 2020, amid a crackdown on repeat offenders.
“That strategy is working. We’re seeing fewer of the same individuals cycling through the system again and again. And we’ve worked closely with our district attorneys to make sure these cases are taken seriously,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters as she announced the crime statistics for the second quarter of 2025.
“In 2025, more serious shoplifters are being convicted on felony charges than any point since 2018,” the top cop added. “We’ll keep applying pressure where it’s needed to make sure that that number continues to decline.”
Tisch also revealed that citywide, robbery is down 13% through the first 6 months of the year, with declines across all 5 boroughs.
Grand larceny has also dipped 7% citywide through the first half of the year, “thanks to our focused effort on shoplifting,” the commissioner added.
About three weeks ago, another shoplifter turned violent in Midtown Manhattan, cops said.
A brute who had been trying to steal a can of soda knifed a security guard who confronted him at the Duane Reade on Third Avenue near East 52nd Street on June 19, cops said at the time.
Anyone with information on the latest crime is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.
