By Bianca Fortis
Two women were arrested earlier this month in connection with a Forest Hills robbery, the Queens district attorney said.
Robin Hamilton, 45, and Sharhonda Hart, 28, were arrested July 7 for allegedly robbing three women near Slocum Crescent and Greenway Terrace June 29, according to DA Richard Brown.
The victims said they were walking through the neighborhood shortly after midnight when they were approached by two men, according to the criminal complaint filed by the DA’s office. One of the men allegedly brandished a gun and demanded all of their belongings. The victims said they then handed over several credit cards, jewelry, a purse, two iPhones, an iPad, a camera and some cash.
Hamilton and Hart allegedly drove the getaway car carrying the robbers, the DA said.
One of the victims said her credit card was used at a gas station one month after the robbery. Police used surveillance footage from the gas station to track down the women.
According to Hamilton, the women picked up the men in Brooklyn and drove to Queens. When they saw the three women on the side of the road, one of the men told her to stop the car, the complaint said. The men committed the robbery, got back into the car and they all drove away, according to her version of the events in court papers. She dropped them off again in Brooklyn, she said.
Hamilton told police that her friend is in jail in Suffolk County for identity theft and that the men “think that my girlfriend gave them up.”
The men told her she owes them, Hamilton said.
The women face charges of robbery grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, identity theft and unlawful possession of personal identification information.
The robbery bears resemblance to another Forest Hills incident that was part of a larger robbery pattern, but a spokesman for DCPI said no official connection has been established.
In that pattern, a group of people committed similar robberies eight times throughout Manhattan and Queens. The robberies occurred in the middle of the night and the thieves appeared to be indiscriminate about the victims they chose.
One of the robberies occurred in Rego Park. In that case, two female suspects brandishing a knife approached a 51-year-old man and demanded his wallet. They took off with his gym bag and fled in a white sedan, according to police.
In another Forest Hills incident, two male suspects armed with a gun jumped out of a white sedan and demanded money from a 66-year-old man. One of the suspects grabbed the victim while the other searched his pockets, police said.
Reach reporter Bianca Fortis by email at bfortis@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
