Shoplifter Stabs Forest Hills CVS Manager: Police

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A CVS manager was stabbed by a shoplifter who stole hundreds of dollars worth of hygiene supplies from the Forest Hills pharmacy on Tuesday, according to the NYPD.

At about 12:15 p.m., the shoplifter tried to leave the CVS on Queens Boulevard and 71st Avenue with nearly $200 worth of shampoo and cough syrup, police said.

The manager tried to intervene but the thief stabbed him in the hand and punched him in the face before running out of the store, according to the NYPD.

First responders took the manager to a nearby hospital, where he remained in "stable condition" despite the injury to his hand and cut on his face, police said.

Police told multiple outlets that the shoplifter was in his 40s, but haven't released an exact description or made any arrests as of Wednesday.

Locals told the New York Post that the attack was shocking.

"It's scary because I could have been the person who got slashed," Margaret Ruiz, a local who frequently shops at the CVS, told the outlet.

"This is supposedly one of the safest neighborhoods in New York – in Queens at least. And it’s not feeling that way anymore," she said, imploring the mayor to take action against crime.

Shortly after the violent robbery at CVS two other shoplifters stole cards and cash from a nearby Forest Hills Walgreens, PIX11 reported.