MANHATTAN — A thief who went on a monthlong pickpocketing spree across Manhattan, snatching wallets from a total of eight victims and using their credit cards to shop, was arrested last week, according to the NYPD.
Wilbert Harris, 51, was arrested on June 9 after preying on his victims between March and April, according to authorities.
The first incident took place on March 18, when Harris repeatedly bumped into a man while riding a northbound E train at about 2:30 p.m., lifting the victim's wallet, containing five credit cards, in the process. He then hopped off the train at the West Fourth Street stop, according to police.
The next day, another victim got a call from Bank of America just after 6 p.m. to inform her that there had been unauthorized purchases on her debit card at a Designer Shoe Warehouse and McDonald’s totaling $420, police said.
After reviewing security footage at DSW, officers spotted a man later identified as Harris using the woman’s debit card, according to a police report, though it wasn't immediately clear how he got his hands on her card.
Prosecutors charged Harris with one count of grand larceny, eight counts of possession of stolen property, six counts of identity theft, and six counts of petit larceny, according to a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
A judge ordered released Harris without bail on June 14 and he’s due back in court on Aug. 8, according to court records.
A lawyer for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Police have connected Harris to a string of thefts across Manhattan, including:
► A man realized his wallet was missing when he got off a southbound B train at about 8:30 a.m. on March 22, police said. Officers later identified fraudulent purchases made with the victim's card at a Duane Reade and observed Harrison on security footage making the purchases, they said.
►On March 24 at about 9:15 a.m., a woman felt someone bump into her on a southbound 6 train at the Lexington Avenue and East 51st Street stop, police said. After checking her bag she realized her wallet and six credit cards were missing.
When she contacted her bank to cancel her cards, she learned that someone had used one of them to make purchases at Duane Reade and McDonalds.
Harris, once again, showed up again on security footage at those locations, according to a police report.
►On March 26 just after 5:30 p.m. a woman was sitting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 1605 Broadway in Midtown when a stranger came over, placed his jacket over the seat with her purse next to her, and swiped a wallet and credit card from her purse, police said.
Surveillance footage revealed the culprit to be Harris, police said.
►On March 29 at 9:45 a.m. a woman realized someone had stolen her wallet and the five credit cards inside, police said. Further investigation turned up fraudulent purchases at Duane Reade, Foot Locker, and Macy’s.
Harris was later seen on security footage using one of the cards at the Duane Reade at 122 W. 42nd St. between Sixth and Seventh avenues at 10:49 p.m. on the same night the wallet went missing, police said.
►A woman realized her bag was snatched from the back of her chair while she was eating in the Shake Shack at 691 Eighth Ave. at West 44th Street just before 3 p.m. on April 6, police said.
Police tracked a $640 purchase at the Herald Square Macy’s to Harris by checking security footage, according to a criminal complaint.
►On April 10 just before 3 p.m. a woman got on a northbound 3 train at Atlantic Terminal, and when she got off the train at Christopher Street in Greenwich Village she noticed five credit cards missing along with a cell phone, police said.
One of the cards was used to make three purchases at a DSW at W. 125th Street and Amsterdam Avenue over the course of an hour for a total of $284.77, police said. Security footage showed Harris making the purchases alongside an unidentified woman, according to a criminal complaint.
Harris was spotted again the same day with his accomplice making a $77.65 purchase with the victim’s card at a Duane Reade at 279 W. 125th St., police said.
Check here for other crime stories from the 13th Precinct, which covers Gramercy, Stuyvevsant Town, and parts of Chelsea and Union Square.
