Transit cops in Lower Manhattan need the public’s help in finding a serial thief who threatened to kill women in order to steal their MetroCards at subway stations three times this past week.
In each instance, police said, the suspect confronted woman at the mezzanines of either the Whitehall Street or the Rector Street stations and made a verbal threat to kill them if they didn’t provide him with their MetroCard. Each time, the crook successfully obtained the victims’ passes without further harm or incident.
Authorities said the first robbery happened at 10:15 a.m. on Nov. 3, when the bandit stole a MetroCard from a 32-year-old woman at the Whitehall Street stop on the N/R line. He returned to the station the following day at 6:32 a.m. on Nov. 4, and similarly robbed a 78-year-old woman of her MetroCard, police noted.
Law enforcement sources said the perpetrator struck again eight minutes later, at 6:40 a.m. on Nov. 4, stealing a MetroCard from a 39-year-old woman at the Rector Street station on the 1 line.
On Friday night, the NYPD released video footage of the suspect obtained from the first incident. As shown, the perpetrator has a dark complexion and wore a black du-rag, a black surgical mask, a navy-blue jacket and green-and-black gloves.
Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
