The NYPD is searching for a team of pickpockets who have struck at least seven times in Flushing and Jackson Heights since January.
Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing, the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights, and Transit District 20 are looking for the trio who first struck on the afternoon of Jan. 19 at the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street, where a 15-year-old girl was walking when one of the suspects bumped into her. The victim later discovered her Samsung Galaxy cellphone was taken.
The pickpockets struck again on Jan. 27. Authorities say that a 60-year-old woman was inside the Main Street subway station when she put her backpack on the ground as she purchased a MetroCard. When she completed her purchase, she discovered her laptop computer had been taken from her backpack, police said.
On Jan. 31, a 21-year-old woman was shopping inside the Song Tea Supermarket located at 38-21 Main St. around 5:30 p.m. when she discovered that her Apple iPhone 13 was missing. A surveillance camera captured one of the suspects removing the cellphone from the victim without her knowledge, police said.
During the afternoon of Feb. 8, a 34-year-old woman was shopping inside the US 1 Supermarket located at 39-12 Main St., when one member of the trio reached into her jacket pocket and removed her cellphone and proceeded to hand it over to another one of the suspects before they fled the store on foot, according to the NYPD.
During the afternoon of Feb. 11, a 31-year-old woman was shopping inside the A and C Supermarket at 41-41 Kissena Blvd. when one of the suspects bumped into her. A short time later, the victim realized her cellphone was missing, police said.
Later that same day, a 51-year-old woman was boarding the 7 train at 82nd Street in Jackson Heights, when one of the suspects bumped into her, after which she noticed her Samsung cellphone was missing, according to the NYPD.
And finally, on Feb. 16, a 26-year-old woman was inside the transit hub at 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights when she was bumped into and afterward noticed her cellphone was missing, police said.
The NYPD released a surveillance photo of one of the suspects and described her as a Hispanic woman with a light complexion, around 5’5” and 130 pounds, approximately 30 years old with long black straight hair. She was last seen wearing a black hooded winter jacket and a black surgical mask.
The second suspect is a Hispanic woman with a light complexion, around 5’5” and 130 pounds with long black straight hair, police said.
The third suspect is described as a 5’9” Asian man who was last seen wearing a dark blue skull cap, a light blue face mask and a gray jacket.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are strictly confidential.
