Call it a bike-by swiping.
Police said a man riding a red road bicycle has been zipping around grabbing women’s cell phones right out of their hands.
According to cops, on Fri., Sept. 25, around 5:40 p.m., a 28-year-old woman was snapping photos at 14th St. and Fifth Ave., when the cycling cell-phone snatcher rode by and took her new-model iPhone 11 out of her grasp. The victim was not injured.
The iPhone had a cell-phone wallet case, which contained the victim’s identification and credit cards. Later that day, the robber used the victim’s plastic to make unauthorized purchases online and at a GameStop store down the block from the scene of the snatching, police said.
This bike bandit apparently really gets around. About an hour before the 14th St. rolling robbery, police said, he targeted a 71-year-old woman near Times Square as she was walking northbound on Seventh Ave. at 40th St. Again, the eagle-eyed filcher’s phone of choice was an iPhone 11, which he yanked from her hand and sped off. The woman was uninjured.
The suspect is described as being in his late teens, with a slim build and black hair. He was last seen wearing a black backpack, a black T-shirt, blue jeans, white-and-black sneakers and riding a red bicycle with drop-down handlebars.
Police released surveillance video showing the individual after the Midtown robbery and a surveillance image of him from the GameStop at 32 E. 14th St.
Police ask that anyone with information call the New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted on the Crime Stoppers Web site at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter at @NYPDTips.
All tips are strictly confidential.
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