NEW YORK CITY — Two prolific bandits held-up nearly 30 shops at gunpoint—including the same bodega three times—in a spree that has hit four boroughs since February, police said.
In their latest robberies on Aug. 15, the pair hit Getty Mini-Mart in Riverdale last Thursday 40 minutes after they held-up Murray Hill's Diamond News — 14 miles away, according to police. They had robbed Diamond News only 9 days before, according to the NYPD.
In each stick-up of the 24 shops, the duo approached cashiers and flashed a handgun before running off with cash, cops said.
No injuries were reported in any of the incidents, police said.
Investigators initially linked the thieves to nine thefts in Queens and Manhattan, but they have since spotted their modus operandi in a slew of other hold-ups.
Police said the robbers first held-up the New Museum Deli across from the Museum of Natural History on Feb. 13 about 11 p.m., cops said.
Five days later they hit a Chelsea Dunkin' Donuts on Ninth Avenue about 6:30 a.m., police said.
They hit several locations multiple times, including a bodega at 408 W. 56th St. which they robbed three times, the latest on July 28 about 11:30 p.m., cops said.
The suspects, who are about 6 feet tall and between 180 and 200 pounds, fled in a damaged mini-van with miss-matched hub caps after robbing an Elmhurst bodega on July 25th, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).
