By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Police say they've nabbed the thieves who were snatching wallets from older women on Upper West Side buses.
Detectives caught up with the thieves, a team of two men and one woman, on Aug. 27 at a Brooklyn Macy's when they tried to use a stolen credit card to buy an iPod from a vending machine, police said.
Monica Marconi, 44, and John Simmons, 40, both Brooklyn residents, and Paul Walker, 43, of the Bronx, were arrested on suspicion of grand larceny and posession of stolen property, according to NYPD.
The 20th Precinct's commanding officer Captain Christoper McCormack announced the arrests at a community council meeting this week.
Detectives believe the alleged thieves were responsible for a spike in pickpocketing incidents involving older women on buses in the 20th Precinct this year. All of the victims were women older than 60.
Many of the thefts happened on the M104 bus, which runs on Broadway from Harlem to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
The trio allegedly used various tricks to prey on unsuspecting senior women.
Investigators say that in one instance Marconi pretended to trip over an older woman's bag that was on the floor of the bus. One of the male accomplices then started an argument with the victim to distract her while the thieves made off with her wallet.
In two other instances, one of the male suspects offered his seat to a standing woman. The suspect moved closer to the woman under the guise of helping her sit down, then took her wallet out of her purse.
The three alleged thieves used credit cards stolen from the victims to shop for XBOX 360s and PlayStation 3s at Target, police said.
When one of the stolen credit cards was used in a purchase at the Brooklyn Macy's on Fulton Street, detectives went to the store to review video surveillance and identified the suspects.
The next day, store security spotted the alleged thieves in the store and alerted 20th Precinct detectives. Marconi and Simmons were arrested at the store; Walker was arrested a week later, police said.
Police said Simmons and Walker have a history of prior pickpocketing arrests dating back to 1984.
