They tried to run, but they couldn’t hide from the law.
Two alleged robbers who swiped property from a man in Flushing at gunpoint on Friday night were picked up later in the evening thanks to the quick efforts of officers from the 109th Precinct, authorities said.
At 6 p.m. on Dec. 16, law enforcement sources said, the 42-year-old male victim alerted officers on traffic detail at the corner of Maple Avenue and College Point Boulevard that he had been robbed moments earlier.
Police learned that the victim had been bringing packages to his vehicle parked 41st Avenue and Delong Street when he was approached by two male suspects. One of the perpetrators displayed a gun and removed his cellphone and a pair of earphones; his cohort allegedly took the packages and $68 in cash from the man.
The suspects were then observed entering a nearby vehicle and drove away. Sources familiar with the investigation said the victim observed where the suspects were headed and provided that information to police.
Officers spotted the suspects inside a vehicle matching the description provided at the corner of Main Street and Maple Avenue and stopped the car.
There, authorities noted, the officers found Eric McCoy, 19, of the Bronx seated behind the wheel and William Green, 23, of Manhattan in the front passenger seat. During a search, police said, the officers recovered the reportedly stolen property as well as a 9 mm handgun used in the caper.
Both Green and McCoy were taken into custody and charged with first-degree robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, petit larceny, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.
Police sources said the suspects each have a prior criminal record; Green was previously arrested on charges including grand larceny, theft of service, burglary and menacing, while McCoy has three sealed arrests to his name.
Deputy Inspector Judith Harrison, commanding officer of the 109th Precinct, took to Twitter to congratulate her officers on making the arrest.
We were flagged down by a man who was robbed by 2 males that fled in a car. We found the car, stopped it & recovered this #Gun #OneLessGun pic.twitter.com/q7B6vJDNP8
— NYPD 109th Precinct (@NYPD109Pct) December 17, 2016
