CHAIN PAIN: The $400 necklace of Harvey Hernandez, 3, was snatched in his Bed-Stuy lobby. (Paul Martinka)
(Paul Martinka; Facebook; David Green; Tomas E. Gaston)
A heartless monster attacked and robbed a Bronx boy who had just bought a bar of soap at a bodega — in the latest in a shocking series of crimes against city youngsters.
Jacky Saunders, 9, was returning from an errand for his aunt when a middle-aged man pushed him against a wall and stole his cash, the victim and law-enforcement sources said.
The boy left his family’s apartment with a $20 bill to buy the soap at the Fordham bodega, on 183rd Street near Belmont Avenue, shortly before 4:45 p.m. Wednesday.
The child paid for the $1 bar of soap and kept the change in his hands. The thief, believed to be 50 years old, followed him outside with a bike, parking it in front of his apartment building before going into the vestibule with him.
The creep yelled at the boy to distract him.
“He said, ‘Put your money in your pocket!’ ” Jacky told The Post. “He pushed me against the wall! He was a little bit rough.”
After grabbing the boy’s change, the coward fled.
The thug wore a red shirt, dark shorts and white sneakers.
“He was riding a green- and-black bike with a white seat,” Jacky said.
His aunt, Faye Singleton, 25, said they could hear the terrified child’s cries from their apartment.
“I was sending Jacky to the store when we heard him screaming from all the way downstairs,” she said, horrified.
The robbery rattled the child, his grandmother said.
“He doesn’t want to go outside to play. He won’t go to the pool or park,” said Anora Quinn, 49.
“My grandson has been going to the store since he was a little baby. I hope the police get [the mugger] before the streets do, because he lives around here and everyone knows about it.”
The robbery was at least the fourth since July 6 involving an adult and a small child.
Jacky is the oldest of the group, which includes a 2-year-old whose bracelet was swiped while she was held by her mother and a 3-year-old whose chain was snatched while he sat in his stroller.