Man Attempts Robbery in Upper West Side, Stalks Victims to Washington Heights: Police

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Police are trying to identify a man who allegedly attempted to rob two individuals on the Upper West Side before stalking them to Washington Heights and attempting to rob them again.

What started as a phone-snatching at the 96th Street subway station evolved into a strange sequence of events, police said. On September 3 around 3:50 a.m. a man grabbed a victim's phone out of his hands at the 96th Street station, but the victim and his friend were able to retrieve the phone, police said.

But the robber was not deterred.

The man followed the victim and his friend onto a northbound 1 train before trying to rob them again at the 157 Street station in Washington Heights, police said. This time the robber tried to steal the victim's bike, but again was left empty handed.

Police released video from the second attempted robbery, which appears to show the robber (blue shirt) and the two victims engaged in a dispute in the subway station. The suspected robber is shown leaving the station, and the victims are seen following him tentatively with their bike. The video then shows the robber returning to the gate and engaging with the two other men before flipping them off and walking off camera.

Here's the video:

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577. All tips are confidential.

Photo/Video: NYPD