Police say 39-year-old Kimond Syrus was arrested in four robberies at bodegas in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.  

In all four incidents, a man was seen wearing the same outfit – a white painter's suit, black gloves, a black hoodie, and a face mask. Police say he used the same method of holding the cashier at gunpoint in all four incidents.  

Following the two Brooklyn robberies, the suspect allegedly robbed a bodega in Manhattan, where a 67-year-old worker was found dead.  

Mayor Eric Adams joined the NYPD in a news conference on Thursday, saying that if the suspect was not wearing a mask during these incidents, the investigation could’ve had a different trajectory. 

"This is what we are seeing over and over again in our robbery patterns,” said Adams. “If he didn’t have this [he said while pointing to a face mask], that Crime Stoppers tip we got would have allowed us to be here days earlier.” 

For bodega owners, a collective sigh of relief is being breathed. 

"This guy was terrorizing every bodega in New York City," said Fernando Mateo, president of the United Bodegas of America. "We didn't know where he was going to hit next. We didn't know what his intentions were going to be... if he was going to kill another bodega owner. So that was our concern."

Syrus has a criminal history dating back to 2019, when he was also wanted for a robbery. The NYPD has not announced what charges he will face.