National Clothesline

New York drycleaner Bruce Levy was shot and killed outside his plant in Long Island City, NY, on October 6. Police cited robbery as the motive because he was carrying a bag bag containing almost $20,000 in cash to pay his employee payroll.

Levy, the 52-year old owner of Red Cap Services, a drycleaning, tailoring and house-cleaning company, pulled into his plant garage when an unidentified man approached him and demanded the bank bag full of money.

According to police, a struggle ensued and Levy was shot several times — first in the throat and then repeatedly in the chest — before the gunman got away with the cash, driven off in a black Nissan car by an accomplice.

After the shooting, Levy was able to scramble toward the plant entrance and ask someone to phone 9-1-1. Mary Jimenez, 22, who works at the plant as a tagger, and plant manager, Sham Dhanna, kept him company while he waited 30 minutes for paramedics to arrive. He was then taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead.

Police had descriptions of two suspects but no arrests were made immediately.

At the time of the shooting, Red Cap deliveryman David Thames was sitting in a van outside the store. Though he didn’t witness the shooting, he did hear three or four shots and saw the gunman run in front of his vehicle.

He told the New York Post: “It all happened within a minute. I heard the shots and shrugged it off as firecrackers. Next thing I knew, everyone was running out of the plant saying, ‘Did you see what happened?’”

Police believe it was not a coincidence that the robbers struck when Levy was carrying a large amount of weekly payroll cash. They are currently investigating a Red Cap employee who was recently arrested following a different shooting incident. Though he is currently in jail, a police source told Newsday that the employee may have hired a pair of robbers to steal the money.

Levy was described by acquaintances as “generous” and “kindhearted.” They also noted he was an athletic man who knew Karate, loved tennis and often attended the U.S. Open Championships.

He left behind his wife, Kathi, three adult children and three stepchildren.

Levy owned the cleaning company with his brother, Craig. The business services linens for major hotels including the Westin and W chains.

Following the homicide, police issued a warning to local businesses about the dangers of using a cash payroll system.

Officer Peter Lauinger of the 114th Precinct in Astoria told the Flushing Times Ledger that business owners should take certain safety precautions when handling large amounts of cash. Such safety measures include hiring a security team, renting an armored car and setting up a closed circuit television operation in their store.

“You gotta be aware of your surroundings,” he said. “The biggest thing to me — don’t take the payroll yourself.”