Washington Heights Mugger Sprays Man With Chemical For $5: Cops

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A thief who was waiting inside a Washington Heights apartment building to attack its residents was only able to get away with $5 during a mugging earlier this month, police said.

The hooded man was waiting inside a building at 649 West 184th St. on Feb. 6 when one of its residents, a 59-year-old man, came home from work at 3:35 a.m. and found him waiting inside, police said. The thief attacked the man by spraying him with an unknown chemical and demanded that the hand over money, police said.

But after the 59-year-old started to fight back, the mugger was only able to make it away with $5. He fled from the building in an unknown direction, cops said.

The 59-year-old man was left with irritation on his face and hands and was treated by emergency responders.

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, on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.