New images show a duo of gun-toting criminals and their female accomplice wanted in connection with a series of robberies that involved stealing more than $300,000 outside upscale New York restaurants, police said Friday.
Security camera photos released by the NYPD showed one of the suspects holding hands with a brunette woman wearing a black bra top and shorts, who police said may have acted as a lookout during some of the luxury goods robberies.
Another photo shows a similar woman wearing a white T-shirt and jeans shaking hands with the same robbery suspect, but the NYPD could not immediately confirm whether it was the same person.
Police say a lookout may have aided a pair of assailants in the most recent robbery, which occurred around 7:45 p.m. on June 26 at the corner of restaurants at McDougal and Bleecker Streets in Greenwich Village, when one of the assailants held a gun to a Canadian tourist’s head and stole a $40,000 Rolex watch.
According to police and sources, the suspect also stole an 18-karat gold bracelet worth $2,000 from the 58-year-old victim before meeting an accomplice on a moped in the middle of the road and jumping on board.
Police said the duo also used a moped to make off with stolen jewellery and watches in six other robberies dating back to March.
Police said no injuries were reported during the string of high-value crimes.
Police said the most significant haul came on June 18, when the pair stole a man’s Patek Philippe watch worth $100,000 outside the popular Greenwich Village store Carbone around 8:45 p.m.
Police said the gunmen approached a 39-year-old man outside a restaurant on Thompson Street near Bleecker Street, where one of them brandished a black gun before stealing his luxury watch.
According to police, on June 21st at around 9:35 p.m., a group of brazen robbers entered Birds of a Feather restaurant in Williamsburg’s Chinatown with guns and demanded $200 Seiko watches and cell phones from three men (two aged 27 and one aged 28) who were dining.
Police said the perpetrators also stole the victims’ iPhones, valued at $1,000 each, before fleeing on a moped.
Police say the armed duo may also be involved in a $40,000 robbery that took place around 6:50 p.m. on May 31 outside Marlowe & Sons on Broadway near Berry Street in Williamsburg.
Police said two men, aged 40 and 38, were dining when the ruthless duo stole the victims’ watches and cash worth $35,000 and $5,000 respectively before fleeing on a moped.
Police say the terrifying robbery on May 24 involved three men, two aged 36 and one aged 37, who were dining at the restaurant on West Broadway near West Houston Street in SoHo when they were ambushed and attacked by two other men.
Police said one of the men strangled the oldest victim while the other brandished a silver gun and stole the victim’s watches, valued at $40,000, $35,000 and $8,500.
According to police, the first theft occurred around 7:30 p.m. on March 27th on Avenue of the Americas near West Houston Street in the South Village, when men on mopeds attacked a 33-year-old man.
Police said the assailants brandished a silver gun and fled after stealing the victim’s watch, valued at approximately $65,000.
Anyone with information about the robbery 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 information by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website. https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/or X @NYPDTips .
