Kimon Cyrus, the ex-convict accused of killing a popular grocery store clerk and robbing at least three other stores, was identified because he left the front of his hazmat suit open, exposing similar clothing he wore during each crime, prosecutors said Friday. .
Cyrus, 39, wore different hazmat suits during different robberies, but the clothing he wore underneath was the same: camouflage pants and a dark-colored sweatshirt with white writing, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Gregory SanGermano said. , at the arraignment of the alleged murderer in Manhattan Criminal Court. .
Surveillance footage of Cyrus without the hazmat suit, but in the clothes he was wearing during the slaying, helped detectives identify him, San Germano said.
“Because it was tracked before and after the incident, the clothing the defendant was wearing before and after the murder is important,” San Germano said.
Cyrus was held without bail on charges of murder and weapons possession on Friday. Dressed in a brown jacket, a blue sweatshirt and jeans and a blue surgical mask, the ex-con remained silent during the brief arraignment procedure, only responding with a “Yes” when asked if he understood what he was saying. happening.
A search warrant was executed at his Bronx apartment on Friday, prosecutors said.
He was apprehended near his Bronx home around 10:40 a.m. Thursday after members of the NYPD’s Shooting and Homicide Enhancement Team traced surveillance video of one of his crimes to the front door of his house.
The ex-convict is accused of robbing two Brooklyn stores before walking into a Daona Gourmet Deli on the Upper East Side on March 3 and shooting worker Sueng Choi, 67, while pistol-whipping him during a botched robbery, the police said. police.
The bullet went through Choi’s left hand and the top of his forehead, according to court documents.
After killing Choi, Cyrus jumped on a moped and sped toward the Bronx, where, about 22 minutes later, he robbed the Ya Ya Deli at Melrose Ave. and E. 160th St., police said.
Police later found one of his hazmat suits behind a building that was a five-minute walk from Ya Ya Deli, police said.
The first break in the case came Sunday when an informant called the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline and reported seeing the suspect, dressed in a military uniform and riding a blue motorcycle, entering Camilla Grocery near Crotona. Park in the Bronx.
A Camilla Grocery worker told the Daily News that a customer saw Cyrus hanging out outside the store the same day as the murder, though he never robbed the place.
Police officers took surveillance footage of the store on Monday, said the worker, who gave his name only as Alberto.
Detectives searched the area and found more videos of Cyrus in the same clothing he was wearing under his hazmat suit the night of the murder, as well as footage of him donning the hazmat suit, according to court documents.
“This was good old-fashioned police work,” Mayor Adams said.
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Clients were concerned that Choi worked alone on night shifts.
“He knows it’s a dangerous place to work,” said Choi’s ex-wife, Jenny Chon, 66. “I don’t talk to him much, but every time I talk to him on the phone, maybe once a year, he tells me it’s dangerous.”
Cyrus pleaded guilty to felony assault in 2003 for a violent attack in midtown Manhattan. He punched a man and sprayed a burning liquid in his eyes before hitting him over the head with a glass bottle in 2002, records show. As his victim lay on the sidewalk, Cyrus stole his wallet.
He also has a 2009 arrest for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and a 2020 arrest for skipping bail in Mount Vernon, Westchester County.
Cyrus’ attorney, Adam Freeman, said Friday that he plans to present a “strong defense.”
Choi’s murder prompted a plea from the NYPD and Adams for store owners to ask customers to remove their masks when entering a store, at least long enough to show their faces.
“Face masks protected us from COVID, but they really allow criminals to exploit this,” the mayor said while holding up a black surgical mask. “We can have security and public health. They go together.
