Crime & Safety

Man Snatches Cell Phone In Broad Daylight Subway Robbery: NYPD

A surveillance photograph showed the unmasked suspect leaving a Crown Heights subway station, cell phone in hand.

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A surveillance photograph showed the unmasked robbery suspect leaving a Crown Heights subway station on April 16, cell phone in hand.
A surveillance photograph showed the unmasked robbery suspect leaving a Crown Heights subway station on April 16, cell phone in hand. (Courtesy of New York Police Department)

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A Crown Heights cell phone snatcher's failure to abide by coronavirus mask guidelines could help police identify him.

A surveillance photo showed a man who NYPD officers believe robbed a woman, 46, inside Utica Avenue subway station on April 16. The man grabbed a cell phone from her hands as she waited on the northbound "A/C" train platform, authorities said.

The man ran off into the sunlight at about 12:25 p.m., but not before a surveillance camera captured him at the turnstiles, cell phone in hand, authorities said. He was unmasked — a no-no in terms of coronavirus prevention but a potential stroke of luck for police looking to track him down.

Find out what's happening in Prospect Heights-Crown Heightsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Police seek help identifying this man in connection to an April 16 robbery in the Utica Avenue subway station. (Courtesy of New York Police Department)
People with information are asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

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