The madman accused of fatally mowing down an FDNY EMT with a stolen ambulance in the Bronx Thursday stormed into a local deli looking for cigarettes minutes before the horrific incident, store surveillance video shows.
Jose Gonzalez, 25, who was charged with murder in the tragic death of 44-year-old veteran EMT Yadira Arroyo, can be seen walking into the Lucky Star Deli on White Plains Road less than an hour before he allegedly took a joyride on the back of Arroyo’s ambulance and ran her over with it.
Gonzalez — who employees said had no money on him — motioned to the deli clerk for a cigarette, putting two fingers to his mouth, the video shows.
“He was pissed off,” deli worker Sultan Moshen said, adding that “my customers told me he took a bag from a kid, put him against a wall … scared the kid maybe.”
A store employee gave Gonzalez a cigarette and he walked out, according to Moshen.
“I didn’t give him the credit … another guy helped him out,” Moshen said.
About 45 minutes later, Gonzalez allegedly ran over Arroyo after joyriding on the rear bumper of her ambulance and then commandeering the vehicle on White Plains Road, law enforcement sources said.
Gonzalez faces charges of murder, grand larceny and operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs.