Serial shoe snatcher targets women on city streets
NEW YORK - A serial shoe snatcher is stealing shoes off of women walking on the streets of New York City.
The NYPD says he has struck at least three times since the beginning of the year. The man takes one shoe and flees, according to cops.
On Jan. 24 at about 9 a.m., the suspect followed a 24-year-old woman into a mixed commercial and residential building at 739 Utica Avenue in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and removed her right shoe before taking off.
On Feb. 9 at about 11:05 a.m., the victim was going up the street staircase at the Grand Army subway station in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn when the man ripped the left Nike sneaker off the foot of the 24-year-old woman.
The suspect then ran into the train station, jumped the turnstile, and fled onto a train. The woman did not suffer any injuries.
On May 24 at about 12:15 p.m., the suspect removed the left shoe of a 24-year-old woman inside the Rego Center shopping plaza at 96-05 Queens Boulevard in Rego Park.
Police are asking for the public's help in tracking down the suspect in these unusual robberies.
Following the theft at the Grand Army subway station, police described the suspect as male, black, 20 to 30 years old, 5'10" and 220lbs.
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He was wearing a gray knit cap, a gray vest, a blue sweater, blue jeans, and white sneakers.
Anyone with information about the suspect should contact the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or on Twitter @NYPDTips.