May. 15, 2023 By Zachary Gewelb
Police are searching for the crook who is believed to have committed a string of grand larcenies, having stolen credit cards belonging to several straphangers on subways across Queens in April and May.
Police say the first incident took place just after midnight on April 3 on a southbound 7 train that was approaching the Main Street subway station in Flushing, within the confines of the 109th Precinct. An unidentified man snatched multiple credit cards from a 60-year-old man’s jacket, which was cut open, police said. No injuries were reported as a result of the incident.
Later in the month, at approximately 3:30 a.m. on April 26, the crook struck again on a southbound 7 train, this time as it approached the 61st Street subway station in Woodside, within the confines of the 115th Precinct. The crook stole credit cards from a 32-year-old man’s pocket, which was cut open, according to authorities. No injuries were reported as a result of the incident.
On May 5, just after midnight, the crook was aboard a northbound N train that was approaching the Queensboro Plaza subway station in Long Island City, within the confines of the 108th Precinct, when he cut open the left rear pants pocket of a 41-year-old man and snatched his wallet and cellphone, police said. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident.
Two days later, at 4 a.m. on May 7, the crook was on a southbound 7 train approaching the 52nd Street subway station on the border of Sunnyside and Woodside, within the confines of the 108th Precinct, when he stole credit cards from a 32-year-old man’s pocket, which was cut open. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident.
He struck again at 5:30 a.m., when he was still aboard the southbound 7 train. As the train was approaching the Roosevelt Avenue subway station within the confines of the 109th Precinct in Flushing, the crook snatched credit cards from a 30-year-old man’s pants pocket. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident.
A day later, at approximately 2:30 a.m., the suspect was on board a northbound 7 train that was approaching the Main Street subway station in Flushing, within the confines of the 109th Precinct, when he removed credit cards from a 19-year-old male victim’s front left pants pocket, which was cut open. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident.
And, most recently, the crook struck on board a southbound 7 train at approximately 3:30 a.m. on May 10. As the train was approaching the Main Street subway station in Flushing, within the confines of the 109th Precinct, the crook snatched credit cards from a 56-year-old man’s front left pants pocket, which was cut open. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident.
Police on May 14 released surveillance video and images of the suspect, who was seen entering a convenience store and shopping for Red Bull.
Anyone with information in regard to these incidents is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.. All calls are strictly confidential.