An elderly Sunnyside woman was robbed by an unidentified intruder just inside her apartment building entrance on the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 12.
Police say the stranger slipped into the vestibule of the residential building on 42nd Street and 43rd Avenue at around 11 a.m. and, once inside, he approached an 82-year-old woman from behind and forcibly snatched her necklace before running out of the apartment building.
He was last seen running northbound on 42nd Street towards Skillman Avenue, police said.
Police from the 108th Precinct responded to the location and found the senior woman had sustained bruising to her neck, but she refused medical attention at the scene, according to the NYPD.
The necklace is valued at approximately $800, police said.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect as he ran from the building. He has a medium complexion and was wearing a blue T-shirt, dark-colored jeans, gray and white sneakers and a dark backpack.
A reward of up to $3,500 is being offered for information that leads to his arrest and indictment.
Anyone with information regarding this robbery investigation is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 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 confidential.
Through Aug. 10, the 108th Precinct has reported 121 robberies so far in 2025, 34 fewer than the 155 reported at the same point last year, a decline of 21.9%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
