Cops are searching for two men who stole thousands of dollars during a series of restaurant burglaries in the Upper West Side–all within an hour on Monday, police officials said.
The first incident was around 11 p.m. on Dec. 23, when the two men gained access to Bistro Cassis, at 225 Columbus Ave. between West 70 and 71 streets., through a back door, according to police. Once inside, they allegedly took $3,000 and four cable modems.
Then, just 15 minutes later, the thieves struck again a couple of doors down at Pomodoro Rosso, at 229 Columbus Avenue. Once again, they entered through a back door and then allegedly took $1,800 and two cable modems.
The third incident happened at 11:55 p.m., inside Shalel Lounge at 65 W. 70th Street., at the corner of Columbus Avenue. The two men allegedly entered by breaking a lock on an emergency exit door, then took $417 before fleeing in an unknown direction.
Police released surveillance video of the two suspects, taken from the second incident. All of the burglaries occurred in the NYPD’s 20th Precinct.
Anyone with information about the identity of the males 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 WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
