Man Robs 5-Year-Old And Punches Child's Mother In East Harlem, Police Say

EAST HARLEM, NY — Police are searching for a man wanted for robbing a 5-year-old girl and punching her mother in East Harlem.

The mother and her three children were walking on Third Avenue between East 116th and 117th streets around noon on Sunday when a man approached the family from behind, an NYPD spokesman told Patch. The man grabbed a shopping bag from a 5-year-old girls and as the girl's mother attempted to recover the bag the man punched her in the jaw, police said.

The mother, Teodula Sanchez, told ABC7 that the bag contained newly-purchased earrings for her 5-year-old daughter.

"We were walking down the street shopping, and I just left a jewelry store to buy a pair of earrings she wanted, but he grabbed her hand and took it," Sanchez told ABC7.

The man fled the scene with the shopping bag, police told Patch.

The NPYD is still investigating the crime, but has not identified a suspect or made an arrest, police told Patch. The suspect is believed to be a man in his 40s weighing more than 200 pounds and standing nearly 6-feet tall, police said.

Photo by Patch