Police from the 104th Precinct in Ridgewood and the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst are looking for a creep who groped two young girls on the same MTA bus line just minutes apart on Wednesday morning.
The first incident occurred within the 110th Precinct as the MTA Q58 bus was in front of 86-15 Broadway in Elmhurst at 7:37 a.m., when the stranger came up to an 11-year-old girl and touched her breasts, police said, adding that the youngster was not injured during the incident. The suspect remained on the bus as it crossed Queens Boulevard into the confines of the 104th Precinct.
The same suspect did it again about eight minutes later when he approached another 11-year-old girl as the Q58 bus was in front of 71-15 Grand Ave. in Maspeth.
This time, the stranger reached down and touched her hip and private area, police said. The man then exited the bus at 72nd Street and Grand Avenue, traveling northbound on foot toward Calamus Avenue.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect on Thursday and described him as having a light complexion with dark curly hair. He is approximately 30-45 years old and was carrying a Chihuahua dog in a black tote bag. He wore a black baseball cap, a yellow jacket, black sweatpants and brown shoes.
Anyone with information regarding this forcible touching 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 Sept. 15, the 104th Precinct has reported 24 sex crimes so far in 2024, 23 fewer than the 47 reported at the same point last year, a decline of 48.9%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
Through Sept. 8, the 110th Precinct has reported 103 sex crimes so far this year, five more than the 98 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 5.1%, according to CompStat.
