MIDTOWN — Police are looking for a serial thief who snatched chains off of four different straphangers’ necks at a pair of Midtown subway stations during a two-and-a-half week spree, the NYPD said.
The first victim, a 67-year-old woman, was inside the 59th Street-Lexington Avenue subway station around 3:50 p.m. on Sept. 27 when the suspect ripped a chain off her neck and fled, police said.
A week later, on Oct. 4, the mugger returned to the station around 11 a.m., punched a 17-year-old boy in the face several times and stole two chains off his neck before jumping onto the subway tracks and fleeing into the tunnel, the NYPD said.
A week after that, on Oct. 11, a 30-year-old woman was inside a Queens-bound N train at the same station around 10 a.m. when the suspect grabbed her necklace, police said. The victim struggled with the thief, but he still managed to rip the necklace off and flee into the station, the NYPD said.
Finally, on Oct. 14, he snatched a 19-year-old woman’s necklace inside the Grand Central-42nd Street subway station around 1:40 p.m. before fleeing the scene, police said.
The suspect was last seen wearing a blue Yankees cap, a gray long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.
