A crook who showed up at Harlem mortuary to supposedly plan a memorial beat up the funeral director and threatened him with a machete during a caught-on-camera hold-up, police said Thursday.
The robber entered the Daniels Wilhelmina Funeral Home on W. 131st St. near Malcolm X Blvd. about 3 p.m. Monday claiming he wanted to make funeral arrangements. Wearing a cream-colored overcoat with a gold badge on his belt, he asked to see the 66-year-old funeral director, cops said.
He was ushered into a back office where he was caught on video released by the NYPD giving the funeral director a fist bump before sitting across a desk from him.
The meeting took a bizarre turn when the crook accused the funeral director of watching pornography on his computer — then demanded his money, cops said.
The crook leaped out of his seat, repeatedly punched the funeral director in the face and threatened him with a machete before running off with the victim’s wallet, credit cards, and cell phone, police said.
The funeral director suffered a cut to his head but declined medical treatment.
Cops tracked the funeral director’s stolen cell phone to the Belmont section of the Bronx but have not recovered the device. No arrests have been made.
Cops are asking the public’s help identifying and tracking down the suspect.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.