WATCH: Video of Bronx machete attack released by bodega coalition
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The United Bodegas of America released disturbing videos on Tuesday of a group of attackers as they chased two men into a Bronx bodega this week, with one being slashed by a machete.
In one video clip, the attackers were seen tossing items at the door while two men who ran inside a bodega defend themselves with items such as a candy dispenser.
During the brawl, one victim was slashed across the eye and forehead before the arrival of police and an ambulance, the coalition of bodega owners said.
"NYPD responded to the 911 call, things happen quickly in real time," Fernando Mateo, spokesman for the group said in a statement. "As you witness on the video tapes, someone could have died. Lucky day for the two victims who ran into the bodega, they could have died."
The incident occurred at approximately 5 p.m. at the Colorado store at 1158 Gerard Avenue in the South Bronx.
According to Mateo, the bodega clerks hid behind the counter during the incident and were unharmed.
"We are small businesses that are trying to invest our money in this city, and as you can see the gangs have taken over," Mateo said at a morning press conference Tuesday.
"You know, there's very little that we can do to defend ourselves," he said.
Radhames Rodriguez, president of the coalition, The attack is comparable to the one fatal machete attack that occurred June 2018 against 15-year-old Guzman-Feliz who was dragged out of another Bronx bodega in a case of mistaken identity.
"We are nervous and afraid, these machete attacks bring us back two years when Junior was killed and the bodega owner was blamed for his death," Rodriguez said. "We are in our bodegas trying to make a living, we don't know who is going to run in and why. We are innocent victims as well, we are not armed, we don't have anything to defend or protect anyone without risking our own lives. The Video's you see here are proof of how dangerous NYC has gotten."
