PARK SLOPE — A 12-year-old boy was robbed of his iPhone 6 near a popular neighborhood playground Monday afternoon, police said.
The boy was walking near J.J. Byrne playground on Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street at 2:20 p.m. when a group of males approached him, police said. One of them said to the boy, "Can I see that?," then grabbed the iPhone from the boy's hand and shoved him to the ground.
The boy sustained an injury to his leg but refused medical attention at the scene, police said.
The pack of thieves ran off down Fourth Street toward Fourth Avenue, according to police. Police did not have information immediately available on the approximate ages of the thieves.
No arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon and police were still investigating, an NYPD spokesman said.
Investigators don't know yet whether the robbery is related to other recent muggings in the neighborhood, police said.
On Jan. 28, a 15-year-old and 16-year-old were robbed of their cell phones on 14th Street near Prospect Park West by masked men who appeared to be armed, according to police. Minutes later robbers punched a 32-year-old man in the face after he refused to hand over his cell phone on Ninth Street and Prospect Park West.
In December, an 11-year-old boy in Park Slope was robbed of his iPhone by two men, one of whom put him in a chokehold to force him to reveal the phone's password, according to a police report.
Crime increased slightly in the 78th Precinct in 2015 compared to 2014, with 968 major crimes reported in 2015 compared to 956 in 2014, according to the most recent statistics from the NYPD.
Major crimes include murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, grand larceny and burglary. There were 98 robberies in 2014 and 122 in 2015 in the 78th Precinct, according to NYPD statistics.
