The NYPD is searching for four men in a gray Nissan Sentra with New Jersey plates who snatched a 33-year-old man off a Jackson Heights street in broad daylight on Monday morning and proceeded to beat and rob him before he escaped from the vehicle nearly eight miles away in Jamaica.
The victim’s harrowing ordeal began at around 11 a.m. on Apr. 1 as he was standing near the intersection of 37th Avenue and 84th Street, when the vehicle approached him and one man jumped out and pulled him into the car before a physical altercation ensued, police said.
The perpetrators allegedly punched him multiple times in his head and body—while he was in the moving vehicle—and forcibly removed approximately $340 in cash.
The victim was able to flee the vehicle, which had the New Jersey plates L21NPR, in the vicinity of Sutphin Boulevard and 106th Avenue. The 33-year-old sustained minor injuries and refused medical attention at the scene.
The NYPD released surveillance images of two of the four suspects who are wanted in what is currently deemed a robbery investigation but could be reclassified over the course of the investigation, according to an NYPD spokeswoman. The suspects are described as having medium complexions. One had a beard and wore a beige field jacket and a dark baseball cap. The second suspect had close-cropped hair and wore a black fleece pullover.
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 crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
Through Mar. 31, the 115th Precinct, where the crime occurred, has reported 89 robberies so far in 2024, 30 more than the 59 that were reported during the same point last year, an increase of 50.9%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
