LOWER EAST SIDE — Police are searching for a pair of suspects who violently mugged five different people — including 12- and 14-year-old boys — aboard trains and in subway stations over the past several weeks, the NYPD said.
The thieves first struck Aug. 10 while riding the 4 train around 1 p.m., when one suspect asked a 47-year-old woman for $1, police said. As the woman reached into her purse, the second suspect pushed the woman's head back and stole her wallet before both fled at the Bowling Green subway station, according to police.
The next day, one of the suspects was on a northbound 6 train near the 33rd Street station around 2:30 p.m. when he smacked a 12-year-old boy in the face and stole his cellphone, police said.
On Aug. 31, just after 2 p.m., one of the suspects stole a cellphone from a 20-year-old man who was riding the J train at the Delancey Street station, according to the NYPD. A little more than an hour later, police say the suspects were part of a group of five people who punched a 14-year-old boy in the face and stole his phone at the Fulton Street station.
Then on Sept. 1, the pair robbed a 16-year-old boy of his cellphone as he was riding the J train just before 10 a.m., according to the NYPD. The two threatened the hurt the victim and forced him to get off the train at the Flushing Avenue station, police said.
Police released video surveillance of the suspects running through a subway station, where one of the men can be seen leaping over the turnstile.
The first suspect has an afro and was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, black shorts and white sneakers, police said. The second suspect wore a backpack, white T-shirt, black pants and white sneakers, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
