CROWN HEIGHTS — A man tried to rob four people at gunpoint while riding a bike in Crown Heights all within a 24-hour period last week, police said.
The suspect struck three times within 15 minutes on the night of Thursday, July 9, riding up behind his victims on a bicycle, threatening them with a silver handgun and demanding their cellphones, police said. However, he was only successful in robbing one of his targets, officials said.
The suspect, described as about 20 years old, found his first victim on Kingston Avenue between Lefferts and East New York avenues around 1:05 a.m., police said. The victim reported being threatened with a silver gun for his cellphone and when he ducked into the lobby of a nearby building, the would-be robber fled empty-handed on his bike south on Kingston Avenue.
Ten minutes later, the suspect approached a 26-year-old man walking on Empire Boulevard between Troy and Albany avenues and threatened him with a similar-looking gun, according to a separate police report. The man handed over his $700 Samsung Galaxy S5 phone and $50 in cash before the suspect fled eastbound on Empire toward Troy.
Only five minutes after that, he struck a third time, rolling up on a 21-year-old man who was walking with his cellphone in hand on Brooklyn Avenue between Sterling Street and Lefferts Avenue, police said. The suspect flashed a gun, said “that’s mine now” and snatched the phone. But the victim grabbed it back and the suspect fled by bike northbound on Brooklyn, police said.
The next night, on July 10, the suspect tried for a fourth time, riding behind a 33-year-old man and threatening him with a silver gun around 2:20 a.m., police said. The victim ran away from him and he fled on his bike.
No arrests had been made as of Thursday afternoon, police said.
Check out this map of major crimes reported to the NYPD in Brooklyn and where they occurred in June 2015, the lastest available data:
