Police are searching for a man who allegedly robbed two people of thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment in Central Park in May and June.
The suspect kicked off his two-day crime spree on Friday, May 31 at approximately 2:19 p.m. Police said a 34-year-old woman was using a Canon camera and tripod in the vicinity of West and Terrace Drives when the suspect approached her setup, grabbed $6,000 worth of equipment while her back was turned and immediately fled the scene to parts unknown.
The brazen shutterbug hit the park again the next day at around 1:30 p.m. A 73-year-old man was using a camera in the vicinity of West Drive and the 79 Street Transverse when the perp took his Nikon camera, valued at $1,500 directly from his hand and fled to parts unknown, law enforcement sources said.
Police were not able to confirm what kind of force the perp used to snatch the camera away from the victim.
Officers from the Central Park Precinct responded to both incidents. No injuries were reported.
No arrests have been made yet, but the NYPD released a photo of the suspect.
Anyone with information regarding either of these incidents 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 X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
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