CROWN HEIGHTS — Police are looking for a two people who have been snatching women’s purses in local bars and restaurants in the past month.
The pattern of thefts began with on Saturday, Oct. 8 at The Saint Catherine on Washington Avenue and Bergen Street in Prospect Heights when a man walked into the bar around 1 a.m., sat next to a woman, then took her purse off her chair and walked out, police said. The bag contained a pair of headphones.
A week later, a female suspect repeated the robbery, coming into the same bar just after midnight on Sunday, Oct. 16, sitting next to a woman, knocking her purse to the floor, then picking it up and walking out. The victim lost the bag, $30 in cash, a cellphone and a credit card, police said.
Four days later, a similar incident took place at Chavela’s Restaurant on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights. Police said a female suspect walked into the Mexican eatery around 11 p.m. and sat behind a female patron, rummaged through her purse and took her wallet. The suspect got away with $27 in cash and three credit cards, the NYPD said.
On Friday, the police department released three photos taken from surveillance footage of the female suspect involved in incidents two and three. Police say she is approximately 40 to 46 years old and walks with a “pronounced limp,” the department said in a media release.
The male suspect is around 50 years old and last seen wearing dark clothing, police said. Officials believe the two suspects and the three incidents are linked.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, (888) 57-PISTA (74782).
