Thief Targets Sleeping Commuters in Subway Stations: Police

UNION SQUARE, NY — Police have tied the recent robbery of two sleeping men at the Union Square subway stop to a second incident following the same pattern earlier this summer.

According to police, a 21-year-old man and 22-year-old man fell asleep at the 14th Street subway station on Sept. 25 and woke up at about 5 a.m. to find their cellphones, wallets and passport had been stolen. Two hours later, a person used one of the victim's stolen debit cards to make a purchase at the Key Food at 110th Street in East Harlem, police said.

The NYPD believe the same man is responsible for a theft that took place on July 23 at the Canal Street 6 train stop. In that incident, a 26-year-old woman had fallen asleep in the station and woke up to find her purse had been stolen, police said. An hour later, the man was captured on security footage at the 110th Street 6 train station using her stolen credit cards to purchase MetroCards.

The police released a new image of the suspect from the Key Food's security cameras on Wednesday.

Anyone with information in regards to either 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 Credit: NYPD