QUEENS — Police are testing a knife for DNA as they search for a man who brutally attacked and robbed three women in Forest Hills and Rego Park in the past two months, officials said.
The knife was recovered near where the mugger struck for the first time on Jan. 18, on the corner of 65th Avenue and 99th Street in Rego Park shortly after 8 p.m., said Capt. Robert Ramos at a Community Board 6 meeting Wednesday night.
Ramos, commanding officer of 112th Precinct which covers Forest Hills and Rego Park, said that, while investigators were not sure whether the knife belonged to the suspect, it was found “right down the block” from where the robbery happened.
During that incident, the suspect threatened a 63-year-old woman with a knife, then punched her in the face and grabbed her purse containing an iPhone and credit cards, before fleeing on foot toward 102nd Street, police said.
(Credit: NYPD)
Ramos said it was not clear how long the testing process, which searches for matches in the DNA database, will take.
Earlier this week, police released video of a car which they say belongs to the suspect. It shows a dark blue 4 door sedan, believed to be a Mercury Grand Marquis, driving east on Harrow Street in Forest Hills, approximately one block away from where the most recent mugging took place on Tuesday, Feb. 28, around 5:45 p.m., police said.
(Credit: NYPD)
Just before the video was recorded, the suspect stepped out of his car, walked up behind a 53-year-old woman on Harrow Street, near Continental Avenue, hit her on the head three times with an unidentified object, knocking her unconscious, and fled with her handbag containing several credit cards, driver’s license and about $50 in cash, police said.
The victim suffered a cut to her head and was taken to Forest Hills Hospital.
Police were able to draw a sketch of the suspect, which was released last week, because the victim saw the mugger's face, Ramos said.
The precinct has already distributed hundreds of fliers with the sketch throughout the community, police officials said.
The mugger also attacked an 82-year-old woman in front of 70th Road, near 110th Street, on Feb. 8, shortly before 6 p.m. He came up behind her and hit her in the head with a blunt object, knocking her to the ground. He stole her purse with several credit cards and fled in an unknown direction. The victim suffered lacerations to the back of her head and was rushed to Forest Hills Hospital in serious but stable condition, officials said.
The suspect is described as being in his 40s, standing approximately 6 feet tall, weighing about 220 pounds with short black hair and a medium build. He was last seen wearing a dark colored sweatshirt.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.
