MANHATTAN — A group of teens has been on an Upper West Side crime spree since January, punching, choking and robbing at least five victims in less than a month, police said.
The suspects, who police described as being between 13 and 17 years old, stole cellphones and cash from three teenagers and beat up a newsstand clerk and another teen during their spree from Jan. 22 to Feb. 7, according to the NYPD.
Investigators do not know how many teens were in the group of suspects, one of whom can be seen grinning in a photo released by police.
The robbery spree began at approximately 4 p.m. on Jan. 22, when the group put a 15-year-old boy in a chokehold on West 107th Street, near Columbus Avenue, police said. The group ran off with the victim's phone, police said.
They struck again five days later, slugging a 13-year-old boy in the face on Columbus Avenue, near West 92nd Street, police said. They took his phone and an unknown amount of cash, police added.
Their next two attacks were not as successful as the first. The teens grabbed the neck of another 13-year-old boy about 7:15 a.m. on Feb. 4 near West 93rd Street and Columbus Avenue, demanding his phone, police said. But the boy fought back and the thieves ran off empty-handed, police said.
The group failed again on Feb. 6 when they tried to rob yet another 13-year-old boy on West 93rd Street, near Amsterdam Avenue, about 3:30 p.m., police said. They asked if he had anything in his pockets, but he ignored them, so they punched him and ran away with nothing, police said.
The next day they went to a newsstand at Broadway and West 93rd Street about 7 p.m., police said. One of them bought a candy bar from the 39-year-old clerk, while the other teens started pocketing items, police said.
When the clerk told them to put the items back, the teens attacked him and fled, police said. It was not immediately clear if the group ran off with the items they snatched from the newsstand, an NYPD spokesman said.
The clerk refused medical attention at the scene, police said. An NYPD spokesman did not know if any of the other victims required medical attention, but said that their injuries were not serious.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).
