Police need the public’s help in finding three individuals connected to a robbery pattern targeting food delivery workers in the Bronx and Manhattan.
In each case, law enforcement sources said, between two and four robbers approached deliverymen outside a location and assaulted them. The crooks then took the victims’ cash and property.
Authorities said the first episode occurred at 7:40 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2019 in front of an apartment building on Olmstead Avenue in the Bronx. Four suspects approached a 21-year-old pizza deliveryman and demanded money.
Cops said the suspects then punched the victim in the face, then removed $60 in cash from his pockets and the pizza. They then fled on foot eastbound on Newbold Avenue toward Castle Hill Avenue.
The quartet struck again the next evening, at 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 23, assaulting and robbing a 38-year-old deliveryman outside a home on Ellis Avenue between Olmstead and Castle Hill Avenues. Police said they punched the victim several times in the face, then removed $350 in cash and took off westbound on Ellis Avenue.
Law enforcement sources said the pattern continued at 8:29 p.m. on Feb. 12, 2020, when two of the crooks mugged a 43-year-old deliveryman inside an apartment building on Fifth Avenue near East 128th Street in Harlem. The pair repeatedly punched the man in the face, then stole $40 from his pockets and ran northbound on Fifth Avenue.
Finally, two unidentified thieves attacked an 18-year-old deliveryman at 8:10 p.m. on Feb. 12 inside an apartment building on West 126th Street near Fifth Avenue. Cops said the crooks punched the man in the head, then stole $130 in cash and his cellphone, and fled.
On Feb. 29, the NYPD released images and descriptions of three suspects connected to the pattern. They’re each described as 25-year-old men with medium builds.
One suspect wore a black jacket, jeans and black-and-white sneakers. The second perpetrator wore a black hooded sweatshirt, gray pants and white-and-black sneakers. Finally, the third culprit wore a black-and-gray jacket, a gray hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants with white stripes on the side, and gray boots.
Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). Tips can also be submitted online at nypdcrimestoppers.com, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
