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Robber Targeting Women Stole Hundreds in Cash and Jewelry, Police Say

By Shaye Weaver | February 18, 2016 1:40pm

UPPER EAST SIDE — Police are searching for a man who's been following women into their apartment buildings and robbing them of jewelry and cash, according to the NYPD.

The suspect robbed two women on the Upper East Side, one in Chelsea and another in the East Village since Jan. 14 — each time following them into buildings and showing a gun or pretending to have one before demanding their valuables, police said.

In the first incident, he followed a 27-year-old woman into the elevator of her East Village home near East 12th Street and Third Avenue at about 8:35 p.m. on Jan. 14, pretended to have a gun in his jacket pocket, demanded cash and took off with $150 from the victim, police said.

The following week, the suspect went into the Gristedes at 1343 Lexington Ave., near East 89th Street, on Jan. 21 at 10:34 p.m., approached a 22-year-old woman in the back of the store, showed her a gun and stole $20 from her, police said.

The next day, on Jan. 22 at 6:30 p.m., the man followed a 30-year-old woman into the elevator of her apartment building at East 92nd Street and Third Avenue and took $60 and a MetroCard after telling the woman he had a gun, police said.

The suspect made his way west to Chelsea on Feb. 11, where he entered another residential building at 6:50 p.m., followed a 25-year-old woman into her apartment, pretended to have a gun and made off with the victim's Bank of America debit card, ID, $50, and a watch and other jewelry worth $5,300, police said.

The man returned to the Upper East Side on Feb. 16, where he followed a 71-year-old woman into her building's stairwell at East 76th Street and Second Avenue, acted like he had a gun in his pocket and robbed her of $280, according to the NYPD.

No one was hurt in the robberies, police said.

The man was caught on video surveillance in a sneaker shop on West 125th Street, where he attempted to use the Bank of America card he stole from the Chelsea resident, according to police. He was unsuccessful in using the card, they said.

Police did not have information on which sneaker store the suspect went into and did not provide a description of the suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).