Mugger Targets 4-Year-Old Girl And 81-Year-Old Woman On UWS: NYPD

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The NYPD is trying to identify a man accused of snatching an old woman's purse and then robbing a family inside an Upper West Side bank, police said.

The crime spree began on Tuesday afternoon around 2:20 inside the post office on the corner of Columbus Avenue and West 68th Street, police said. The suspect approached an 81-year-old woman, pushed her to the ground and stole her purse, police said.

The woman suffered bruising and pain to her back and left wrist and was taken to St. Luke's hospital for her injuries, police said.

After fleeing the post office, the man entered a Chase Bank on Broadway and West 70th Street about 10 minutes after the purse snatching, police said. Once inside the bank, the man rifled through the old woman's purse and took $65, a cell phone and the woman's medication.

Also inside the bank was a 37-year-old woman and her two daughters, ages 4 and 5, police said. The family was using the ATM machine and the 4-year-old girl helped the mother by removing money from the machine. As the girl grabbed the money from the machine, the robber snatched it from her hands, police said.

The robber fled the bank with $300 and the 4-year-old's glove, police said.

The NYPD released surveillance video from inside the bank:

The suspect (pictured above) is described as a man in his early 20s standing about 5-foot-5. The man was last seen wearing a black hooded sweater, a green flight jacket, gray sweatpants and gray sneakers, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Photo/video by NYPD