Elderly Man Robbed Of Jewelry In Queens By So-Called Tourists: PD

QUEENS, NY — People claiming to be international tourists lured an elderly man over to their car in northeast Queens and stole his necklace, police said.

The so-called tourists, who claimed to be from Dubai, started talking with the 87-year-old man about 4:30 p.m. on June 16 from the window of a white Jeep Grand Cherokee, stopped in front of 81-70 190th Street, a house near Cunningham Park, police announced late Thursday night.

In the midst of the conversation, the people removed a necklace the victim was wearing, and replaced it with a fake gold piece of jewelry, according to the NYPD.

A video of the incident, reported by police, shows a person in the front seat of the car wrapping their arms around the neck of the elderly man standing next to the vehicle, seemingly capturing the moment of the necklace robbery.

A person in the back seat appears to look on smiling, the video shows.

After the necklace was stolen, the robbers sped off in the vehicle, which had a covered rear license plate, according to the NYPD.

Another similar incident happened on Staten Island last Sunday, police said. People driving a white Jeep Cherokee stopped next to an 81-year-old woman waiting at a bus stop and lured her over for conversation, removing a piece of her jewelry once she was in reach before speeding off, according to the NYPD.

The police department did not immediately respond to Patch's question if these incidents were related.

The jewelry theft, though, isn't the only instance in which older New Yorkers have been targeted in crimes.

In June, an ATM scammer and telephone scammers tricked elders out of thousands of dollars apiece, according to the NYPD.