Yonkers Assemblyman Nader Sayegh at Protect Our Stores press conference in Albany
Video footage of criminals assaulting retail workers is now a staple of nightly television newscasts. To crack down on criminals assaulting store owners and workers, Assemblyman Nader Sayegh is co-sponsoring new laws to stiffen penalties for those convicted of these assaults.
“New York State needs to approve the Protect Our Retail Stores and Workers Legislation to hold individuals, especially repeat offenders, accountable for their crimes. I call upon my Assembly and State Senate colleagues to pass the Protect Our Stores Legislation and send it to the Governor for approval.”
Assemblyman Sayegh is co-sponsoring the Protect Our Retail Stores and Workers Legislation, a package of three bills.
Assembly Bill A5260 will make assaulting a retail employee or owner a class D felony. The proposal would put retail workers in the same protected category as police, firefighters, paramedics and other front-line workers. The legislation would allow judges to set bail for those accused. Currently, most are charged with second-degree assault, a crime not bail eligible. Additionally, this would bring a stiffer jail sentance upon conviction.
Assembly Bill A1504 creates a new crime, fostering the sale of stolen goods. This would make it a crime to run an online marketplace where the operator knows or should know that the goods offered for sale were stolen. These marketplaces have made it easy for criminals to sell stolen goods.
Assembly Bill A4121 goes after repeat offenders as it provides that a prior conviction within the past two years for petit larceny shall raise a subsequent offense to grand larceny in the fourth degree.
Assemblyman Sayegh has also advocated for State funding to assist store owners in installing and updating security cameras & systems to fight crime.
