An attack on a Centereach laundromat worker was caught on camera Thursday. 

Police say it happened after the worker was involved in a verbal dispute with a female customer at the Dirtbusters laundromat in Centereach around 6 p.m.

The worker, Marielco Baires, says surveillance video captured a man with a knife assaulting her while she was working.

 

Baires says the woman seen in the video demanded $200 for clothes that she said were ruined in a dryer. Baires says the woman also insulted her because she is from El Salvador.

The woman then called her boyfriend, who came in and went behind the counter to look for money in the register. Baires followed the man, and she says that's when she saw a knife in his waistband.

Baires is seen fighting him off in the video. She pulls off the suspect's sweatshirt and pants.

In the fight, Baires was punched by the man multiple times in the nose and eye.

After the assault, the suspect and his girlfriend left through the back door and to a car parked on the street.

A witness snapped pictures of the car and Baires says she hopes the pictures and the video will help people to recognize the suspects and report them to police.

 

 

Police say both suspects are described as white, and the woman is about 5 feet, 7 inches tall with black shoulder length hair. The man is 6 feet tall with red hair pulled back in a ponytail. 

News 12 spoke to Mr. Vincent Buda, the owner of the five locations of Dirtbusters Laundrymats. He says, “ I am concerned about getting people like this off of the street and getting more police protection around the area. Police should stop in once in a while, especially nights.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Suffolk police at 1-800-220-TIPS.