Knife-Wielding Man Who Robbed UWS Teen Still On The Loose: Cops

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN — Cops are still searching for a knife-wielding man that robbed a 16-year-old nearly two months after the New Year's attack, police said this week.

The 16-year-old was walking home around 2:45 a.m. on New Year's Day when the thief came up behind him, armed with knife, police said. The man pushed the teenager to the ground and demanded his wallet, cops said.

The teen handed over his wallet, which had $40, a bank card and his ID inside, police said. He was not hurt from the mugging.

Police caught the thief trying to buy a MetroCard with the teenager's bank card at the 116th Street and Lenox Avenue subway station later that day.

He had not been caught as of Wednesday.

The burglary spree comes as the neighborhood is dealing with a crime spike in the New Year, part of which is due to an increase in robberies and burglaries in its northern precinct.

Cops are also looking for the stranger who beat up a 55-year-old man in broad daylight earlier this month and a pair of burglars who robbed three restaurants within three hours.

The 24th Precinct, where the Broadway restaurants all were, has had double the burglaries in the last 28 days than in the same time period last year and more than double the number of robberies, NYPD data shows.

Officers from both the southern 20th Precinct and northern 24th Precinct told the neighborhood community board earlier this month that crime rates in both parts of the Upper West Side have been on the rise in 2020, compared to this time last year.

There was a 40 percent increase in overall crime in the 20th Precinct and a 22 percent increase in the 24th, data shows.

Anyone with information in regard to the identity of this male 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.