NEW YORK CITY — Police released an image of a suspect they say has robbed five straphangers on city subways since August by telling them he’s armed.
Richard Brown, 21, first robbed a rider aboard an F train as it approached the 75th Avenue stop in Forest Hills at 4:25 a.m. on Aug. 15, police said.
He started chatting with the man, then claimed he had a gun. He snatched the victim’s cellphone before forcing him off the train at 71st Avenue, police said.
Brown struck again Sept. 17 by telling a rider aboard an A train that he was armed. He stole the victim’s iPhone 6 as the train approached the Boyd Avenue and 88th Street stop, then kicked him off the subway. A second suspect served as a lookout, police said.
Three days later, he struck twice. He first robbed a 22-year-old man of an iPhone 6 aboard a J train near the Delancey and Essex stop about 1:30 a.m. then, four hours later, stole two iPhone 6s and a credit card from a pair or riders aboard a Queens-bound A train as it approached Jay Street-MetroTech, police said.
The lookout was with him during both robberies, the NYPD said.
Finally, on Dec. 12, he robbed a 17-year-old boy of his Samsung Galaxy phone near the Grant Avenue stop in East New York, police said.
Brown is described as 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair and a teardrop tattoo. He also has tattoos on his neck and hand.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.