BUSHWICK — A spike in armed robberies has hit the northern section of Bushwick, according police.
Two robbery patterns have been seen north of Wilson Avenue in the last month, according to Deputy Inspector Maximo Tolentino.
In both, robbers strike in pairs. In one, the attackers carry a gun while the second pair use knives.
Most of the robberies take place between midnight and 8 a.m., according to Tolentino.
"You have to be vigilant, walk with someone else," he said. "Turn over your property. That's the bottom line."
In the 28-day period that ended on Sept. 18, there were 38 robberies in the neighborhood, 12 percent more than during the same time period last year, according to police statistics.
"Eighty-five percent of my robberies are occurring in that area," Tolentino said, referring to the section between Wilson and Cypress avenues.
"I am putting a lot of my resources there," he said at a Wednesday night Community Board 4 meeting. "We need to put an end to it."
Tolentino said police believed in some cases the robbers live in Queens, travel to Bushwick to commit the crimes then cross back into the other precinct.
He added that they'd made four arrests but were still looking to track down more perpetrators.
Overall this year the neighborhood has seen a 14.7 percent spike in robberies compared with last year, up to 242, according to police statistics. Overall crime is slightly down from last year.
