Police from the 104th Precinct are looking for a purse snatcher who has targeted three women in Maspeth beginning in late December.
Police say the first victim was targeted on the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 31, as she stood in front of 57-15 61st St. at around 10:40 a.m. A stranger approached the 53-year-old woman, grabbed her bag from her shoulder and ran off northbound on 61st Street toward Borden Avenue and the Long Island Expressway. The stolen bag contained $200 in cash and credit cards, police said.
Nearly a month later, on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 27, a 54-year-old woman was walking in front of a home at 59-92 57th Road, when the unidentified man approached her at 7:05 p.m. and pushed her to the ground. He then forcibly removed her purse and ran off eastbound on 57th Road toward 61st Street. The stolen purse contained credit cards, but no cash, police said.
The suspect struck for a third time on Saturday, Feb. 7, when he targeted a 77-year-old woman who was walking in the vicinity of 61st Street and 56th Road just after 7:30 p.m. and grabbed her purse, running off eastbound on 56th Road toward 64th Street. Her purse contained $100 in cash and credit cards.
The three victims, who were robbed within a few blocks of each other, were not injured during the purse snatchings.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect and described him as a man with a dark complexion who was last seen wearing a gray winter jacket with a fur-lined hood, ripped gray jeans, a gray ski cap, a white face mask and gray sneakers.
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 should 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 strictly confidential.
Through Feb. 22, the 104th Precinct has reported 26 robberies so far in 2026, a dozen more than the 14 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 85.7%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
