MANHATTAN — Police are looking for a man they say has stolen wads of cash and five credit cards out of women's purses and theaters across Manhattan — in one instance charging more than $650 to the victim's card.
The man first snuck into the Public Theater at 425 Lafayette St. on the border of NoHo and the East Village on June 2 around 1:45 p.m., but was escorted out by security when he was found in an employees-only area, police said.
He entered a neighboring building at 26 Astor Place just 25 minute later and pulled a credit card from a 33-year-old woman's purse, police said.
He then entered an office at 665 Broadway around 3:55 p.m. and snatched a credit card and an unknown amount of cash from a 26-year-old woman's purse, police said.
The thief struck again on June 12 around 3:45 p.m. when he entered a clothing boutique at 450 Broadway in Soho and took two credit cards from a 22-year-old woman's wallet — he then charged a total of $651 between the two cards, police said.
On June 16 at 12:55 p.m., the thief popped up in TriBeCa at 100 Church St., where he pulled a credit card and an unknown amount of cash from a 35-year-old woman's wallet, police said.
Most recently, he went to the Signature Theatre at 480 W. 42nd St. in Hell's Kitchen on June 21 around 12:10 p.m. where he carried out two thefts — first, he went to the second floor of the theater and snatched an unknown amount of cash from the donation box, police said. He then grabbed a credit card from a 32-year-old woman's wallet before fleeing, according to authorities.
Police have released surveillance footage of the suspect.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS or for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
