MANHATTAN — It was a rude awakening for this suspected thief.
A pickpocket's attempt to snatch an iPhone and wallet from a sleeping straphanger in a subway train in the Village early Saturday morning was foiled by a pair of eagle-eyed cops, authorities said.
Cops said that a pair of transit officers, Sgt. John Nunziato and Officer John Bartley, were patrolling a Queens-bound E train when they saw the suspect, Manuel Alduey, 50 board the train at West 4th Street around 4:15 a.m.
He sat next to the 27-year-old victim and once the train started moving, allegedly grabbed the victim's wallet and cellphone.
When Alduey got off at the 23rd Street station, the officers placed him under arrest.
The suspect, of the Upper West Side, was charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property, police said.
