robbery

Bike Bandit: Police searching for man who's swiped cell phones from pedestrians across Manhattan

Sunday, July 31, 2022

Bike riding bandit swipes smartphones from victims in NYC

The NYPD is warning the public about a bicycle bandit who has been snatching smartphones out of the hands of unsuspecting victims in Manhattan.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- The NYPD is warning the public about a bicycle bandit who has been snatching smartphones out of the hands of unsuspecting victims in Manhattan.

Investigators say there have been five incidents targeting women on the Upper West Side all the way down to the Lower East Side.

In each case, the woman was walking with her cellphone in her hand, when the bike rider would ride up, snatch the phone, and ride off.

No one has been hurt.

All five incidents took place on either June 28 or July 24.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). All calls will be kept anonymous.

The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips, or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.

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