A 73-year-old man has died after falling from a sixth-floor apartment window while trying to escape a home invasion in Manhattan, New York.
Jacinto Remigo plunged to his death from his apartment in Washington Heights after three burglars broke in at around 4:40 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, the New York Police Department confirmed.
Police said that a man broke into a sixth-floor window of the building and let the other burglars in. They then broke into Remigo’s apartment where they tied up a 40-year-old man and stole a gold chain and $200 in cash before leaving the scene.
Remigo climbed out of the window in an attempt to escape during the burglary. The man who was tied up is believed to be related to Remigo, NBC New York, CBS News and ABC 7 reported. He was not hurt in the incident, the outlets added.
Tragically, Remigo fell from the window and landed on the scaffolding just before 5:00 a.m. He was transported to Harlem Hospital where he was later pronounced dead, per CBS News.
In surveillance footage obtained by CBS News, one of the suspects walked on scaffolding surrounding the apartment building to enter inside and took the elevator up to the sixth floor. He then let in his two accomplices after they climbed up the fire escape.
It is not clear whether the suspects knew the victims involved in the burglary and the NYPD has not named any suspects at this time.
Remigo’s friend Heriberto Garcia told NBC News that he saw him “climb out of the window and fall after getting out onto a small ledge to reach another window and getting stopped by an air conditioner.”
Neighbor Richard Ramsundarsingh, who lives two floors below the victim, shared that he was awoken by the fall. “There was a loud bang early in the morning. I heard the sound,” he told CBS News.
“Two flights down. What if they had stopped on this floor? Or the floor before or somebody else? God knows what could’ve happened. It’s kind of scary now,” Ramsundarsingh continued.
“When you think about it, it’s only two floors up, and you have no idea that someone just lost their life two floors up. It goes to show one minute you’re here and the next minute you’re gone.”
Police are asking anyone with any information about the incident to contact NYPD’s Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or submit a confidential tip via their website or on Twitter, @NYPDTips.
Hope they catch these demonic creatures and put them away for the rest of their lives