Daily Archives: October 11, 2018

Kips Bay tailor, 80, charged with groping woman customer

Tamagoglu’s shop in Kips Bay (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel)

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

An 80-year-old tailor in Kips Bay who was violently robbed in his East 27th Street shop last year has been arrested for allegedly groping a customer at his business last week.

The victim told police that while owner Apel Tamagoglu was hemming her pants inside Apel’s New Day Tailor Shop at 203 East 27th Street on Wednesday, October 3 at 2:20 p.m., he allegedly grabbed her buttocks twice and put his hand over her genital area.

As Town & Village reported last year, Tamagoglu was stabbed during a robbery in his Kips Bay shop in January, resulting in a fractured skull, a punctured lung and other injuries. Video footage of the incident showed Tamagoglu attempting to chase the robber out with a chair but he ultimately gave the suspect $80 in cash after being stabbed multiple times. John Franklyn, 53, was arrested shortly after the incident and charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing Tamagoglu. Franklyn was reportedly a resident of the 30th Street Men’s Shelter at the time of the incident.

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Purple-haired robber hits Gramercy 7-Eleven

Robbery suspect

Police are looking for a robber with long purple dreadlocks who held up a 7-Eleven on Monday.

At about 8:30 p.m., the suspect entered the store located at 247 Third Avenue between 20th and 21st Streets, and announced a robbery as he gestured to his waistband. A 23-year-old employee then turned over an undetermined amount of cash and the robber fled.

The suspect was last seen wearing a green vest and a red hat.

Town & Village was unable to reach the store by phone for comment.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident 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 nypdcrimestoppers.com, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.