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13-Year-Old Girl Busted For Trying to Rob a Woman In Central Park, Cops Say

By  Aidan Gardiner and Trevor Kapp | April 26, 2013 8:55am | Updated on April 26, 2013 3:02pm

NEW YORK CITY — A 13-year-old girl was arrested Thursday after she and a partner tried to steal a woman's cell phone and pocketbook in Central Park days prior, cops said.

The teen, whose identity was not immediately released, allegedly tried to rob a 38-year-old woman near Fifth Avenue and East 107th Street on Monday about 8 p.m. with the help of a young boy believed to be 10 or 11 years old, according to the NYPD.

The girl first approached the victim and demanded her cellphone, but when she refused, the boy tried to snatch her pocketbook, police said.

The victim was able to fend off the pair, who fled empty-handed, cops said.

The girl was expected to be arraigned on second-degree attempted robbery charges, police said.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Friday that the victim worked near the scene of the crime and was sitting on a bench when she was approached by a group of kids who "harassed" her for her phone.

Kelly said after the photos of the suspects were released, someone contacted the NYPD's TIPS hotline and alerted the police about the identity of one of the people caught on camera. That person directed police to the 13-year-old girl, Kelly said.

The teen girl admitted to cops that she and her friends "went to the park to harass people," Kelly said.