The knife-wielding man who charged at police on Saturday night in a Whole Foods in Harlem has 34 prior arrests, police said Sunday.
A knife from the scene of a police shooting at Whole Foods in West Harlem.Michael A. Vasquez, 28, was shot by cops who responded to reports of a violent shoplifter, authorities said.
Police were called to the store on West 125th Street and Lenox Avenue around 8:30 p.m. after security guards saw the man go into the bathroom at the market and grew suspicious. Cops arrived to find store employees restraining the men, but he broke free from their grasp and charged at an officer with a knife.
After several orders to drop the weapon, the cop shot at the agitated suspect two times, striking him in the shoulder.
“The officer kept telling him to put it down,” a witness said. “He didn’t listen. He didn’t want to go down. The officer shot him and he got up. They started pushing his head to the floor so they could handcuff him.”
Vasquez was taken to Harlem Hospital Center in stable condition. He was charged with attempted assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon and petit larceny,
