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Homeless man terrorizes NYC neighborhood
Businesses in one Queens neighborhood are afraid for their employees' safety because of a violent homeless man.
NEW YORK - A restaurant owner in Queens says a homeless man is terrorizing the neighborhood.
Many of the incidents have been caught by the Astoria eatery's surveillance camera.
In one of the videos the man allegedly threw a rock at an employee of The Sweet Spot Sporting Bar
Harry Panagiotopoulos is the owner.
"I've owned a business on this block for 22 years. I've never seen it this bad," Panagiotopoulos says. "Nobody wants to do anything. We are pretty much abandoned. Nobody cares about us."
In videos he shared with FOX 5 News a homeless is seen kicking a sign. Two days later he is more violent, picking up a large brick.
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"He threw it, missing my employee by an inch...would have killed him it it hit him," Panagiotopoulos says.
The NYPD has arrested 42-year-old David Stack. He was charged with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, and harassment. He has 12 prior arrests for similar crimes.
"We are afraid he's going to come and stab us when he gets out of jail," Panagiotopoulos says. "It's a very big problem. We are all very scared."
They are not alone.
Rob Eliodromytis owns K&T Quality Meats in the neighborhood.
"We want to see the businessmen protected," Eliodromytis says. "We feel we are not being represented."
Panagiotopoulos says his emails and calls to representatives in the city council and the state assembly have gone unanswered.