Police from the 111th Precinct in Bayside are looking for a brazen pickpocket who allegedly targeted a senior in broad daylight at a bus stop on Bell Boulevard on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
An 85-year-old man withdrew $1,700 from an ATM at the Citibank branch at 39-01 Bell Blvd. shortly after 11 a.m. He then crossed the street to 39th Avenue and waited at a bus stop in front of 39-12 Bell Blvd.
Around 11:15 a.m., a stranger approached him and dropped a handful of coins on the sidewalk. As the man bent down to assist in picking them up, he handed the coins back to the stranger, who then walked away. It was then that the 85-year-old man realized that the $1,700 in cash he had just withdrawn at Citibank had been taken from his pocket, according to an NYPD spokesman.
The victim was not injured during the incident.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect on Wednesday and described him as having a light complexion, a heavy build, and a beard and mustache. He wore an olive green T-shirt, ripped blue jeans, blue shoes with white soles, sunglasses, and a black baseball cap.
Anyone with information regarding this grand larceny 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 Nov. 10, the 111th Precinct has reported 392 grand larcenies so far in 2024, 147 fewer than the 544 reported at the same point last year, a decline of 27%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
