Police from the 109th Precinct are looking for a group of armed robbers who remain at large nearly a month after they targeted a man and woman near Kissena Park in Auburndale and took thousands in cash.
The attack was part of a two-month pattern where the suspects have been carrying out gun-point robberies by arranging meet-ups through social media apps with their victims to conduct cash transactions, police said.
In the latest incident, the armed thieves met with their victims on Monday, June 10, at Pidgeon Meadow Road and Fresh Meadow Road by Kissena Park. Four suspects arrived and met a 33-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man at 11:20 a.m. One of the suspects pulled out a firearm while his accomplices struck the woman repeatedly and forcibly removed $10,700 in cash and property from both victims before running off on Pidgeon Meadow Road.
Investigators said two members of the gang carried out a similar robbery the day before in Queensboro Hill, after setting up a meeting with a 22-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man in front of a home at 132-27 Pople St. on the night of Sunday, June 9. As soon as they met at 9:30 p.m., one of the perps pulled out a handgun and struck both victims multiple times, causing minor injuries. The suspects took approximately $32,000 in cash along with other property before running off in an unknown direction, police said.
The group’s first known robbery as part of the pattern took place in the 109th Precinct on Monday, May 27, after arranging to meet a 27-year-old man at noon at the plaza at 138-23 39th Ave. in Murray Hill. One group member introduced himself to the victim as two more of his accomplices arrived and began to beat the victim throughout his body, pummeling him with their closed fists, police said.
The perps ran off with several hundred dollars and resurfaced several hours later in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in the confines of the 62nd Precinct, where they met up with an 18-year-old woman at 8807 19th Ave. just after 4 p.m. While it remains unclear what kind of force was used against the woman, the suspects ran off with approximately $4,000 of the woman’s money, law enforcement sources said.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the ringleaders last week. One is described as an Asian man who wore a black hooded sweatshirt with the name “Celine” spelled out in white lettering across the chest, black shorts and he wore sweat socks and flip flops. The second suspect is described as an Asian woman with long dark hair with dyed streaks. She was wearing a white tank top.
A reward of up to $3,500 for information that leads to the group’s arrest.
Anyone with information regarding this 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 June 30, the 109th Precinct has reported 175 robberies so far in 2024, five more than the 170 reported at the same point last year, according to the most recent CompStat report.
