E-scooter crime on the rise in NYC

NEW YORK - E-scooters are cheap, easy to obtain, don't have to be registered, and have become the dream vehicle for thieves in New York City.

The NYPD has released new images showing men on scooters and mopeds, wanted for robbing people of cash and cell phones in a spree that has hit three different boroughs.

In The Bronx, police say a man on a red moped rode up to women in the Longview section in the middle of the day, grabbing cell phones out of their hands, and speeding off. The sprees took place in August and September.

Then, in Brooklyn and Queens, five robberies took place in under an hour, according to cops, over Labor Day weekend. 

In each robbery, three men in their late teens or early twenties drove up to their victims on scooters and demanded hundreds of dollars in cash and cell phones while holding a gun or a knife. Three of those incidents occurred in Ridgewood and two in Bushwick.

"They're committing crimes, and they're embarking upon various chaos that's putting us in a bad place that's slowly devaluing our quality of life," said Former NYPD Lieutenant Darren Porcher.

According to Porcher, the problem is that most of these scooters or mopeds are illegal. They are not regulated or registered, so police do not have a license plate to track.

"If one of these scooters or mopeds are involved in an accident or reckless act, we have a way of capturing information and getting in connection, getting connected with the registered owner of that vehicle," said Porcher.

The NYPD is asking for the public’s help in identifying any of the suspects accused of carrying out this crime spree. If you have any information, call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.