Suspect wanted in spree of phone robberies targeting women in the Bronx, police say

ByDarla Miles

Thursday, December 26, 2024 12:44PM

Suspect wanted in phone robbery spree targeting women, police say

Darla Miles has more on the theft pattern around the Bronx.

THE BRONX (WABC) -- Police are searching for a suspect who stole almost a dozen phones after targeting women in the Bronx a few months ago.

The incidents, part of a theft pattern around the borough -- including in Williamsbridge, Pelham Bay and Castle Hill -- involved multiple robberies happening on the same day.

One of them involved the suspect snatching an iPhone Max 12 right out of the hands of a 61-year-old woman in Kingsbridge, police say.

"She was she was doing something with the phone and he was watching her," said business owner Elizabeth Santos.

In another incident, surveillance video caught a 34-year-old woman outside her nail salon on E 199 St when the suspect snatched her phone.

"He go to that corner," added Santos. "The other person was walking in the on the concourse and he get another phone over there. That's what the police told me. He got twice. They're sending like between 20 seconds to 80 seconds."

All of the incidents happened in September and the NYPD has been investigating them since then, but just this week they connected two more cell phone thefts to this pattern.

The victims have one thing in common - they're all women.

Police say in each reported incident, the suspect was on moped and road up to an unsuspecting victim and snatch the phone from their hands. They noted the string of incidents resembles other crime sprees which involved Venezuelan gangs.

In February, a ring of thieves were indicted for stealing cellphones out of the hands of victims and draining hundreds or thousands of dollars from their bank accounts within minutes.