Metro

Robbers shoot man, steal his TV, ditch it on street: cops

A Queens man was shot by a group of thugs in a home-invasion robbery — but the bumbling thieves had to ditch the massive TV they were trying to steal when they realized it wouldn’t fit in their car, authorities and witnesses said.

The victim, a retired mason identified by neighbors as Bentley White, 64, was hit in the body and taken to Jamaica Hospital where he was reported in stable condition, cops said.

The botched Black Friday heist unfolded at the house he shares with his wife and two grown children on 223rd Street, near 130th Avenue in Cambria Heights at 8:30 a.m.

White was loading a trailer with construction materials for a vacation house that he was rebuilding on the island of Jamaica as well as a 47-inch flat-screen LG TV.

It’s not clear if the thieves followed him into the house, but they shot him in the kitchen and tried to flee with the cumbersome screen.

Witness Dudley Young said that he was looking out his window and arguing as they tried to stuff the box into the trunk of their car.

“I saw three guys by the lamp pole fighting with each other over the box,” he said.

“The box was on the side of their car and then they just left it.”

A few minutes later, White’s wife ran out of the house screaming: “Bentley’s been shot, Bentley’s been shot,” Young said.

The witness ran into the kitchen and saw the victim on the floor.

“There was blood all over,” he said. “He was alert and up and about. But there was blood all over the floor.”¶

One relative, identified as Chris, didn’t understand why they preyed on White.

“What can a TV like that be valued on the street?,” he asked. ” (Bentley) wouldn’t resist. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s harmless. This is just a senseless thing.”

No arrests have been made.