Flushing Serial Thief Pickpockets To Pay For His MTA Rides: NYPD

FLUSHING, QUEENS -- Cops believe one man is responsible for pickpocketing several women in Flushing over the course of a month and often charging his MTA travels to their credit card.

The perp stole at least four women's purses and wallets between mid-March and mid-April, making off with hundreds of dollars in cash and stolen credit cards, cops said.

The thefts started just before noon on March 15, when the man crept up behind a 51-year-old woman inside Maxin Bakery on Main Street and swiped the wallet from her purse without her realizing, police said.

Cops later determined he used the woman's credit card to load up a subway card at an MTA vending machine.

Swiping women's wallets to fund his bus and subway fares would prove a common theme for the thief, who on March 22 sat down behind a 22-year-old woman inside New World Mall and slid the wallet from her purse while she ate, police said. In addition to the $800 cash inside, he also made off with her credit cards, which he later used to buy another MTA card.

The thief charged yet another MTA fair card to the plastic he stole on April 12 from a 30-year-old woman, who was obliviously dining inside X'ian Famous Food on Main Street when he snuck her wallet from her purse, cops said.

He also snagged a 38-year-old woman's purse on April 2 after she left it unattended inside a Main Street Burger King. The purse contained $40 in cash, but luckily no credit cards, police said.

The NYPD released surveillance photos of the suspected wallet snatcher, who police described as a 50-to-60-year-old man.

Anyone with information in regards to these incidents is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).