Police from two Queens NYPD precincts are looking for an armed robber who targeted 7-Eleven stores in three different neighborhoods in just over an hour during the early morning of Wednesday, Apr. 17.
Police from the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park reported that the first heist went down just before 2:25 a.m. at the 7-Eleven located at 112-11 Liberty Ave. in South Richmond Hill. The perpetrator allegedly pulled out a handgun and demanded money from the 23-year-old man behind the counter, who complied, handing over $400 in cash from the register, police said.
The same man entered a 7-Eleven about 2.5 miles to the south at 159-35 Cross Bay Blvd. in Howard Beach, also within the confines of the 106th Precinct, just before 3:30 a.m.
He walked up to the counter and threatened a 24-year-old man with the handgun, demanding money. The store employee handed over approximately $1,500 in cash from the register.
The armed robber then headed over to South Jamaica in the confines of the 113th Precinct, where he hit a 7-Eleven located at 154-18 Rockaway Blvd. at 4 a.m., where he displayed a firearm and demanded cash from the 22-year-old man behind the counter. However, unlike the other heists, this time the gunman left the store without taking currency or property from the victim.
An NYPD spokeswoman could not say why he left the 7-Eleven empty-handed. There were no injuries to any of the victims, and the suspect remains at large.
Anyone with information regarding 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 crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
Through Apr. 14, the 106th Precinct has reported 55 robberies so far in 2024, 5 fewer than the 60 reported at the same point last year, a decrease of 26.7%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Meanwhile, robberies in the 113th Precinct are up slightly, with 40 reported so far in 2024, 2 more than the 38 reported at the same point in 2023, and an increase of 5.3%, according to CompStat.
