Cops want robberies to end

Police in the 109th Precinct have noticed a pattern of crimes in Flushing, and they’re asking business and residents to help make it stop - before it’s too late.
In the last month there have been four separate incidents of Chinese food deliverers being robbed by armed assailants, the latest on Wednesday, December 24, when a man delivering Chinese food was threatened and robbed in the stairwell of 42-10 Colden Street at about 9:15 p.m.
After taking the food and whatever money the man had, the unknown perpetrators fled on Franklin Avenue in the direction of Kissena Boulevard, police say.
According to crime-prevention officers, the robberies follow a pattern.
Someone calls in an order, and when the person delivering the food shows up, they are grabbed inside the building, in the stairwell or hallway. They are threatened with a knife.
The first incident was between 10:35 and 10:45 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2 in the vicinity of Delaware Avenue and 149th Street, police say.
A similar robbery/assault took place at about 7:45 p.m. on Saturday, December 13 on the 4th floor of a building at 134th Street and Maple Avenue.
Two days later, on Monday, December 15 at about the same time, another deliveryman was robbed in the stairwell between the 3rd and 4th floor of a building at Sanford Avenue and 132nd Street, according to cops.
Anti-Crime cops ask restaurant owners to please verify deliveries by calling the numbers back, and minimize their losses by not sending their employees out with excess cash.
They ask victims to call 9-1-1 immediately and give operators whatever description they can. The city has emergency operators fluent in many languages to assist crime victims. Cops also remind the workers not to resist, and hopefully avoid injury.
But they really hope the public will do their part.
If you see a crime in progress, strangers loitering in the hallway of your building, or persons fleeing the scene of a crime, call 9-1-1 and report it, anti-crime cops say. You could help prevent a future robbery - that could turn into something even worse.