Harlem Video Game Meetup Turns Into Robbery, Police Say

HARLEM, NY — Two men expecting to play video games with a new Facebook friend found themselves on the wrong end of a gunpoint robbery in Harlem, police said.

The victims, one 36 years old and the other 23 years old, picked up their online acquaintance in front of West 135 Street and Broadway in the early morning hours of Monday Oct. 28, police said. The men then drove to an apartment building on West 135th Street and Riverside Drive, dropping off their new friend for a brief moment, police said.

When the man returned to the victims' car, he was joined by five others, police said. Two of the unknown men got in the vehicle, pulled guns and threatened the video gamers, said police. During the robbery, the 36-year-old victim was pistol whipped in the head, police said.

The robbers snatched $1,000 in cash, a cell phone and two watches before fleeing into the West 135th Street building, police said. Police released photos of five of the suspects taken by building security cameras.

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