Cops are looking for a serial chain snatcher who has been targeting commuters on the 7 train in Queens and Manhattan for nearly two months.
According to police, at 3:35 p.m. on May 23, a 42-year-old woman was riding a northbound 7 train when an unknown man grabbed her chain from around her neck. He then fled the train at the 46th Street stop.
Days later on May 31, the suspect snatched the chain of a 21-year-old woman at 6:20 that evening on the northbound 7 train. He fled the train at the 61 Street-Woodside station in an unknown direction.
Minutes later, the snatcher struck again, grabbing the chain of a woman on a southbound 7 train at the 40th Street subway station. The suspect then fled the scene in an unknown direction.
Prior to these incidents, the suspect struck three times while riding the 7 train at the 42nd and Fifth Avenue stop in Manhattan; on April 24, May 6 and May 11.
The suspect is described as a black man between the ages of 40 and 50 years old and was last seen wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, black pants and black shoes.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
