Cops have arrested the woman who allegedly robbed a 7-year-old boy of $3 at a Bronx fruit store, then slugged the child’s mother when she tried to intervene, police said Tuesday.
Monique Fort is facing robbery, grand larceny and assault charges for the Sept. 24 robbery inside Richard’s Fruit and Vegetable store on Jerome Ave. near Marcy Place in Mount Eden.
Sporting magenta hair and a black and gray tracksuit, Fort, 48, was asking people for change when the child and her mother came in and made a purchase.
The cashier told the Daily News that when the boy received his change — which amounted to $3 — Fort snatched it out of the boy’s hand.
“[The child] was walking through the door and the lady told him, ‘Can I get a dollar?’” the cashier, who only wanted to be identified as Sahyly, said. “I never thought she was going to snatch the money away.
“[It’s] a little scary” seeing a young kid having his money stolen out of his hand, she said.
The child was at the register at Richard’s Fruit and Vegetable store on Jerome Avenue when the woman grabbed the money out of his hand. (NYPD)
The kid’s 38-year-old mother followed the woman as she left the store and tried to get the money back, but was punched in the face for her trouble, police said.
Fort didn’t say a word as she stormed out of the place and was last seen walking off down E. 170th St., cops said.
The mom suffered a minor injury during the robbery and was treated at the scene.
Cops released surveillance images of Fort on Oct. 10, cops said. Within a week they had identified her, and members of the Bronx Warrant Squad took her into custody on Oct. 16.
Fort was released without bail at her arraignment the next day. The charges against her did not require bail, officials said. She’s due back in court to answer to the charges on Thursday.
Fort lives in the Bronx, about 5 miles from where the robbery took place, cops said.
Richard’s Fruit and Vegetable store on Jerome Ave. in Mount Eden. (Google)
Store workers have repeatedly seen Fort both inside and outside the store begging for change, said Eric Vidals, who co-owns Richard’s Fruit and Vegetable, a family-owned business, with his brother.
“She asked for a dollar to the kid but the little kid just ignored her ’cause he’s 7 years old,” Vidals told The News after cops released Fort’s picture. “He doesn’t understand, you know, he’s like, ‘What the heck?’”
Vidals always assumed Fort lived in the area, he said.
“She lives somewhere [nearby],” he said. “You could see she used to change her clothes.”