Boxcutter-Wielding Thief Robs East Village Target, Police Say

EAST VILLAGE, NY — A crook wielding a box cutter threatened employees at an East Village Target before making off with a bag of toiletries, police said.

The thief entered the department store at 14th Street and Avenue A on Nov. 23 at about 2:45 p.m. and started shoving items, including soaps and deodorant, into a bag, a police spokesman said.

(For updates on crime and other East Village news, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

When a store security guard ordered the man to stop, he brandished a box cutter and began wildly slashing at the man and threatened to stab him, authorities said.

The robber bolted from the store with the sack of goods south on Avenue A, officials said. Police describe the man as five-foot-six and have released a surveillance footage still from the incident.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Photo courtesy of NYPD