Masked Men Rob Bayonne Bar, Order Customers Onto Floor: PD

BAYONNE, NJ — A well-known tavern in Bayonne was robbed at gunpoint Monday evening, Oct. 14, and customers inside the bar were ordered onto the floor and then into the basement, according to Bayonne police. A search is underway for the suspects.

Three customers who were sitting inside Massa's Tavern at the time said two men in ski masks, armed with a gun, burst into the normally quiet watering hole and order them onto the floor and then into the basement. A woman walking her dog who popped her head inside to say "hi" was even kidnapped, and taken into the basement as well, said Bayonne police. Her dog was left out on the sidewalk as she was dragged into the bar, said police.

The customers sitting inside Massa's Tavern, at 563 Avenue A, called 911 from the basement of the bar, and police got to the scene a little after 11 p.m., after the robbers had fled.

The customers, two men in their 60s and a woman, told police they were sitting inside the bar when two men in ski masks burst into the tavern sometime before 11 p.m. One man produced a gun and demanded the bartender give him all the money in the cash register.

The other man confronted two customers sitting at the bar and ordered them to lay on the floor; he then robbed them of their personal belongings. He then locked the front door as the robbery continued.

The men took several hundred dollars from behind the bar before taking all three victims to the basement, where they continued to demand more money. While in the basement, two victims were struck in the head with gun, said police.

While they were all in the basement, a woman out walking her dog tried to enter the tavern to visit her friend who was bartending, but discovered that the door was locked.

Finding this odd, she began to knock on the door, said Bayonne police. She was then confronted by the masked men, who grabbed her and dragged her inside the bar. They pointed a gun at her, pushed her to the floor and stole her purse. The men then fled the tavern in an unknown direction.

While still in the basement, one victim was able to call 911 when the men returned upstairs to answer the knocking at the door.

All victims refused medical attention. When police searched the area, they found $25 in quarters and one of the victims' wallet on the sidewalk a short distance from Massa's.

What happened to the woman's dog?

At first, the woman thought the men stole it, since she was forced to leave the dog outside as they dragged her into the tavern and then ran off, said Bayonne police spokesman Lt. Eric Amato. However, upon returning home that night, the woman found the dog waiting for her at her doorstep.

"How the dog got home is unknown," said Amato.

The men have not been found. This incident remains under investigation.