The police have released a sketch of the suspect who attacked and robbed a man of $149,000 in cash on West 56th Street on Friday. The incident, which occurred around 2PM, scared Midtown pedestrians as a shot was fired. But in spite of the number of witnesses, the suspect got away.
The victim, 50-year-old Seton Ijams, had withdrawn the money from a Chase bank on Sixth Avenue and West 56th Street. According to the Daily News, police think the cash was payroll for Columbia Artists Management (the classical music management company where Ijams is a vice-president) or payment for musicians.
The police are investigating a few scenarios: That a bank employee tipped off someone that Ijams was making a large cash withdrawal, that someone in his personal life was involved, that a work colleague orchestrated the robbery, or that the robber saw Ijams take a huge bag of money and decided to rob him.
The Daily News visited Ijams, who was at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell after being pistol-whipped in the sidewalk struggle. Ijams, said he was feeling better but added, "I don't to discuss" the incident "before eating a bowl of Raisin Bran cereal."
