finance
Producer Mick Betancourt Pursues Suspected Thief in Manhattan After Store Robbery
Mick Betancourt, writer and executive producer of the Amazon series Reacher, pursued a man suspected of robbing a store for 20 minutes through Manhattan streets on April 10, 2026, after witnessing the elderly store owner fall and hit his head. Betancourt shadowed the suspect until police arrived and made an arrest.
Apr 20, 9:30 AM·3m read10 sources
+4
Substrate placeholder — needs reviewAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
The writer and executive producer of 'Reacher,' along with his wife Katie, had been staying at the Nine Orchard hotel for a few days of leisure when they witnessed the chase late in the afternoon. The store owner fell backward during the scuffle, hit his head on the pavement, and lay lifeless on the sidewalk as the suspect fled.
Betancourt, who stands 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 225 pounds, has boxed most of his adult life and was an accomplished wrestler in high school. During the pursuit, Betancourt shouted at passersby to call the police and instructed the assailant to get on the ground.
As he gained ground on the suspect, Betancourt caught up and began shadowing him, warning the man directly. 'You just drew the wrong guy today. You’re not going to be able to outrun me and if you engage me physically, I will kill you.
I will take your life,' Betancourt said to the assailant. The chase took an unusual turn when Betancourt imitated wrestler Ric Flair by cawing, prompting onlookers to caw back as he kept pace with the fleeing man. The pursuit ended at a housing project where Betancourt flagged down two New York City Housing Authority Police officers.
The assailant had entered a housing complex, but two elderly ladies nodded to indicate his direction inside, allowing Betancourt and the officers to corner and cuff him. E. Cummings that he had just purchased.
The store owner was badly injured but alive after the incident, according to reports from the scene. Betancourt checked on his status upon returning to the hotel. The presumed thief, who had been chased with a bottle of liquor in hand, was taken into custody without further resistance.
In other news, AST SpaceMobile stock (NASDAQ:ASTS) dropped following the BlueBird 7 launch failure, which impacts the company's 2026 satellite rollout. The opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq rang on April 20, 2026. Mike Trout, an outfielder, hit home runs in New York this week in April 2026.
