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Purse Snatchers Targeting Diners at Restaurants Across Manhattan: NYPD

By Shaye Weaver | April 19, 2017 4:21pm

UPPER EAST SIDE — Two thieves are wanted for swiping purses from unsuspecting diners at restaurants over the course of five months, according to the NYPD.

The tattooed men were caught on video removing women's purses from the back of their chairs as they dined between December 1 and April 8, stealing more than $12,000 from the women, police said.

The men started on Dec. 1 at 2:50 p.m. and the Lincoln Plaza Le Pain Quotidien at 60 W. 65th St. A woman told police that she was having dinner and an unknown man bumped into her from behind and must have taken the wallet out of her purse. Her two credit cards were inside, police said.

Then on Jan. 19, one of the men removed a woman's wallet from her purse that was hanging from the back of her chair as she ate dinner at an Upper East Side Le Pain Quotidien at 861 Lexington Ave. at East 65th Street at 4 p.m. The wallet contained $200 in cash, five credit cards, her driver's license and a museum pass — everything was valued at $11,675, police said.

At 7: 30 p.m. on Feb. 1, a woman was having dinner with her daughter at Patsy's Pizzeria at 206 E. 60th St. at Third Avenue and put her purse on the chair next to her. A security camera caught one of the suspects sit behind her, reach into her purse and take her wallet. The wallet had $300 in cash inside, police said.

Then a month later, on March 8 at 7:30 p.m., a woman was eating dinner at Anassa Taverna, at 200 E. 60th St. at Third Avenue, when one of the suspects took out her wallet from her purse when she wasn't paying attention. The wallet had credit cards, her driver's license and a medical insurance card, police said.

The last hit took place at Via Quadronno at 25 E. 73rd St. at Madison Avenue on April 8. At roughly 6:49 p.m., a woman sat down for dinner and put her purse on her chair. One of the suspects took out her wallet, which contained $150 in cash, credit cards, and a number of department store cards, police said.

The incidents are under ongoing investigation, authorities said.