The robber approached him and the 36-year-old woman from Long Island as they sat outside Fleming’s Steakhouse just south of the George Washington Bridge in Edgewater late last Friday, June 17, said Jeff Duprex, 52.
“We were sitting at the first table on the patio to the right. I was sitting with my back to the entrance of the patio,” Duprex told Daily Voice. “This [black] kid in his 20’s, wearing a black hoodie with black shorts and gloves on, came up to the table.
“He had the gun tucked in his chest. It was a semi-automatic pistol," Duprex said. " ‘Give me the watch,’ he said. ‘Give me the watch.’
“I had on a diamond necklace and a diamond bracelet. My girlfriend had on several diamond bracelets and a necklace," Duprex said. "I wasn’t going to give it up, but my girlfriend was yelling ‘Give him the watch! We’re getting robbed! Give him the watch!’ “
So he said he handed over the Richard Mille 1103 timepiece.
The robber then turned to the woman, whom Duprex described as a “stripper/barmaid” from West Hempstead who works at a gentlemens club in Queens.
“Yours, too,” the gunman said, taking her Audemars Piguet watch.
The robber then ran off, both of them later told police.
Borough officers and detectives established a perimeter with the help of their Cliffside Park colleagues, Bergen County sheriff’s officers and a county K-9 unit, Edgewater Police Chief Donald Martin said.
Investigators also searched for area surveillance video and interviewed Duprex and the woman separately after he told them he suspected a setup.
“The case is still under investigation,” Martin said Tuesday. “There will be updates to follow.”
Anyone who might have witnessed something in the area that night, or has security video or information that could help investigators, is asked to contact Edgewater police: (201) 943-2200.
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