A group of robbers are wanted for holding up at least seven businesses in Brooklyn and Queens this month.
Police believe the same suspects are responsible for the string of robberies involving a number of delis, a restaurant, a gas station and even a food truck.
Authorities say the first heist occurred at around 2 a.m. on Feb. 17, when three men entered a grocery store near Meserole Street and Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn, displayed a black firearm and demanded money. The trio then allegedly went behind the counter and grabbed $4,000 from a cash register and a lotto ticket — and one of the men snatched an employee’s wallet — before fleeing on Meserole Street in a gray Kia Optima.
Just six minutes later, the trio is said to have done the same thing at a deli around the corner. There, one of the suspects displayed a black firearm and grabbed $2,500 from a cash register. Cops say the three fled the location in the same gray vehicle.
Then, at around 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, Feb, 19, four men entered a smoke shop at 224-25 Union Turnpike in Queens and displayed a firearm while demanding money. The group scored approximately $4,000 from a cash register and cellphones before fleeing on foot eastbound on Union Turnpike toward 226th Street.
Fifteen minutes later, police believe the same four men entered Hao Pi Dim Sum Express on Springfield Boulevard, where they displayed the same black firearm and demanded money. There, the group made off with $2,400 from a cash register and en employee’s cell phone.
On Tuesday, Feb. 21 at around 4:45 a.m., police say three men entered a deli near Bedford Avenue and North 7th Street in Brooklyn, not far from the first robbery, displaying the same black firearm. This time, cops say the suspects jumped over the counter and grabbed $4,000 from a cash register and five packs of cigarettes. Then one of the suspects removed approximately $1,300 in cash from the jacket of a 36-year-old victim inside the deli. The suspects are also said to have pointed the firearm at a 26-year-old victim, who cops say was making a delivery at the time of the hold-up, before taking $10 from him.
Minutes later, two men approached a mobile food cart on the corner of the deli and demanded money. One of the suspects snatched $400 from the 45-year-old male victim’s pocket before both of them fled southbound on North 7th Street.
At around 5:05 a.m. that same morning, cops say, three suspects entered a Bola gas station at 497 Meeker Avenue and displayed a firearm before swiping $2,000 and 50 packs of cigarettes. The suspects fled on foot northbound on McGuiness Boulevard.
There were no reported injuries as a result of any of the robberies.
The suspects are described by police as men believed to be in their 20’s, 5’5″-5’5″ in height.
Surveillance footage, obtained from Hao Pi Dim Sum Express, can be seen below.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident 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 crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
All calls are strictly confidential.
