CHELSEA — A thief claiming to be a police officer pinned a teenager to the ground and punched her before stealing her phone, the NYPD said.
The 18-year-old victim was near West 19th Street and Ninth Avenue around 6:45 a.m. on Feb. 2 when a man she didn’t recognize approached her, threw her to the ground, pinned her down and punched her several times, police said.
The suspect also told the woman he was a police officer before grabbing her phone and fleeing the location, the NYPD said.
He was described as an approximately 17- to 20 years old man who was shown in surveillance images wearing a black jacket, tan pants and black sneakers, police said.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.