MIDTOWN — A pair of CD hawkers stole $20 from a passerby after cornering him on the sidewalk — a day after another seller punched a woman twice after she refused to take one of his CDs, the NYPD said.
A Manhattan man was walking at the intersection of West 57th Street and Fifth Avenue around 1:20 p.m. on Aug. 9 when a 28-year-old and a 31-year-old.
The 28-year-old handed the man a CD and demanded money for it, at which point the passerby offered him $1 but the hawker refused to take it, the NYPD said.
“I know you have more money than that,” the seller said, according to police.
The 31-year-old, meanwhile, cornered the man against a wall and kept him from leaving, the Manhattan DA’s office said.
When the victim tried to hand the CD back to the 28-year-old, the seller threatened him, police said.
“Don’t be like that. Don’t make me f--- you up,” the hawker said, according to the DA’s office.
At that point, the 28-year-old snatched $20 from the man’s hand and he and the other seller fled westbound on West 57th Street, police and the DA’s office said.
When police tracked the pair down, the 28-year-old had the man’s $20 in his hand, the NYPD said.
He and the other hawker were arrested and each charged with robbery, but both of the charges were reduced to petit larceny, the DA’s office said.
The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to petit larceny on Monday and was sentenced to 15 days in jail, according to the DA’s office.
The 28-year-old was released from custody on Aug. 12 after paying bail and is expected to appear in court on Oct. 20, according to the DA’s office and the city's Department of Correction records.
Attorneys for the two did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Only a day earlier, a 22-year-old woman from The Bronx told police she was walking with a friend near the southwest corner of West 49th Street and Seventh Avenue when a hawker tried to hand her a CD.
After she declined, the seller followed the woman and her friend across the street where she dropped her bag, the NYPD said.
When she picked it up, the CD seller punched her in the nose, knocking her to the ground, police said.
She got up to defend herself but the seller punched her in the face and knocked her to the ground again, the NYPD said.
The woman was taken to Bellevue Hospital with a bloody nose, a swollen face and scrapes on her right elbow and left knee, police said.
Police searched for the CD seller but didn't find him, the NYPD said.
