MANHATTAN — Police are searching for a pair of women who they say worked as accomplices to a man arrested earlier in June for a spree of pickpocketings, fraudulent purchases and identity theft, according to police.
Police on Friday released images of two women who they say worked with Wilbert Harris, 51, who was arrested on June 10 after police connected him to the theft of wallets and credit cards from at least 11 people across Manhattan between March and June, according to police reports.
The women were pictured while making purchases with one of Harris’s stolen cards at a pair of stores in Harlem on April 10, police said.
In one incident, Harris used a victim’s credit card to make two purchases — one for $69.97 and another for $79.95 — at a Designer Shoe Warehouse at 301 W. 125th St. in Harlem just after 6:30 p.m. on April 10, police said. About an hour later, one of the women was spotted on security cameras using the same card to make a purchase of $134.85 at the same store, police said.
The other accomplice was spotted using the card Harris used at DSW to make a purchase for an unknown amount at a Duane Reade at 279 W. 125th St. in Harlem at 6:48 p.m., according to police. Shortly before she made the purchase, Harris also used the stolen card to buy $77.65 worth of goods at that Duane Reade, police said.
After his arrest, Harris admitted to police that he worked with the women, according to a criminal complaint, but police did not immediately release their names.
Prosecutors charged Harris with numerous counts of grand larceny, petit larceny, possession of stolen property, and identity theft, according to a criminal complaint. A judge released him without bail on June 14, and he’s due back in court on Aug. 9, according to court records.
Police have connected Harris and the two women to at least 11 incidents across Manhattan, including:
► On March 18, 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.
► On March 19 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.
► 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 McDonald's.
Harris, once again, showed up 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 made with the card 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 she noticed five credit cards missing along with a cell phone, police said.
It was this woman’s debit card that Harris and his two accomplices were using when police spotted them on security footage at the Duane Reade and DSW on West 125th Street, according to a police report.
► On April 21 at 4:40 p.m., Harris stole a 17-year-old girl’s wallet while she ate at a Shake Shack at 691 Eighth Ave. in Midtown, according to police.
►On May 1 at 4 p.m., Harris stole the wallet from a 14-year-old girl’s bag at a McDonald’s located at 160 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, police said.
►On May 11 just after 3 p.m., Harris stole a wallet from a woman at the Manhattan Hotel at 790 Seventh Ave. in Midtown, police said.
