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Police Questioning Man After String of Bear Hug Robberies

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | February 24, 2014 1:01pm
Suspect in Queens Robbery Pattern
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NYPD

QUEENS — Police were questioning a man for a series of knife-point robberies in which the mugger placed women in bear hugs in Kew Gardens and Forest Hills, police said.

The suspect, who was taken into custody on Friday, Feb. 21, was transferred to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation, authorities said.

Charges were pending.

The man attacked three women between Feb. 11 and Feb. 19, and threatened to cut them as they were walking down the street at night, police said.

The first attack occurred on Feb. 11, around 12:30 a.m., when the suspect pushed a woman up against a fence at Lefferts Boulevard and Metropolitan Avenue, police said.

He then displayed a box cutter and snatched her purse before running away, the NYPD said.

The following night, around 11:45 p.m., he jumped out of a dark-colored car at Continental Avenue and Dartmouth Street and grabbed another woman in a bear hug, the NYPD said. He threatened to cut the woman and then snatched her purse before driving away, police said.

The suspect struck again around 1:45 a.m. on Feb. 19, when he grabbed another woman in a bear hug in front of 71-25 Austin St. and pressed a sharp object against her hand, police said. He took her purse and fled in a dark sedan, police said.

None of the women were injured in the attacks, police said.