Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing are on the hunt for an armed robber who was foiled by a quick-thinking victim during the early hours of Friday, July 5.
The suspect arranged a meeting with a 53-year-old man near Northern Boulevard and 150th Street in Murray Hill at 3 a.m. to exchange $20,000 for Chinese currency.
As the suspect approached his mark, he reached into a large black bag, pulled out a firearm, and threatened the victim, who took off running to a secure location. An NYPD spokeswoman said the victim sought refuge in a nearby business that he had access to, but she could not say what kind of business it was.
The armed robber fled the location on foot in an unknown direction. The victim was not injured during his ordeal.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect and described him as an Asian man in a black T-shirt and black shorts with white stripes on the left leg.
Anyone with information regarding this attempted robbery investigation 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 July 7, the 109th Precinct has reported 180 robberies so far in 2024, 6 more than the 174 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 3.4%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
