Guard Shot During Robbery Attempt at WaldorfA gunman dressed in black burst into a jewelry store in the ornate lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel on Saturday afternoon, announced that he was robbing the store and began smashing display cases with the butt of his gun, the police said. As the store security guard, a retired police detective, tackled the gunman, shots were fired, striking the guard and sending panicked hotel guests scattering for cover.
Another employee at the store, Cellini Jewelers, grabbed the robber as he tried to flee and another gunshot went off, but no one else was hit, the police said. The man was restrained by the employee and then by other uniformed security officials until the police took him into custody, said Assistant Chief Michael Collins, a spokesman for the police.
The police identified the man they arrested as Rafael Ravinovich, 20, of Highland Park, N.J. He was charged with attempted murder, assault, robbery and grand larceny.
The store security guard, Gregory J. Boyle, 54, who had been working in plain clothes, was shot once under the left armpit and was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center. His injury was not life-threatening, the police said. Mr. Boyle had served with the force for 21 years and was assigned to the Brooklyn Detective Squad before he retired in 2002.
A five-man special police team reached the hotel within minutes of the shooting. They split into two groups and ordered people to take cover. Halfway through the lobby, they smelled gunpowder.
“It was pretty chaotic,” said Detective Dennis Canales, 32, a member of the team. “People running through the lobby, people screaming.”
Several Secret Service agents who were on a security detail for the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, at the nearby InterContinental Barclay New York hotel also ran to the Waldorf after hearing gunfire, a security official said.
The ordeal transformed the lobby of the landmark hotel from a picture of refined hospitality into one of panic and confusion just before 2:30 p.m. Guests were checking in at the reception desk, relaxing in embroidered armchairs and milling in the luxury shops on the main floor of the hotel, on Park Avenue at 49th Street. But then came the bursts of gunfire.
“We heard shots, and people came running out from the jewelry store shouting, ‘Run! Run!’ ” said Kevin Rands, a visitor from Britain who was checking in with his wife, Frances.
Jeff Johnston, 51, was in a chair listening to music on his iPod when he saw people running. “I pulled my headphones off. I heard a pop,” said Mr. Johnston, an information technology professional from Raleigh, N.C. “I took cover. I stood behind a column.”
He said people dodged into private alcoves holding telephones and chairs. “Everybody was scattering, running into rooms, behind columns,” he said.
The police said they recovered two handguns, but later determined that all of the shots, fewer than six total, were fired by the gunman.
The jewelry store is just past the long check-in counter, about 50 feet past the distinctive gold clock tower in the center of the lobby. Witnesses said the lobby was crowded at the time of the attempted robbery.
Andrew Herald, who was in town from England for a wedding, was in the hotel bar, just steps from the jewelry store, when he heard the shots. “Everybody sort of ducked and got behind the marble pillars,” he said.
After the lobby emptied and uniformed officers ran in, witnesses said they saw a man being carried out on a stretcher, a large bandage across his chest.
Moments later, the police brought out Mr. Ravinovich, his hands cuffed behind his back.
Colin Moynihan contributed reporting.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/nyregion/16robbery.html?em
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