Serial Brooklyn Mugging Suspect Arrested: NYPD (Updated)

Pictured: Clarence Jones. Photo courtesy of the NYPD

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — The man police believe is responsible for a series of muggings targeting seniors in Kensington, Prospect Heights and Park Slope in Brooklyn (as well as Ridgewood in Queens) has been arrested, the NYPD said Monday.

Clarence Jones, 66, was taken into custody Monday near the intersection of 8th Avenue and Carroll Street in Prospect Heights, police said.

An NYPD spokesman said officers from the 78th Precinct located Jones after receiving a tip and arrested the suspect without incident.

Police first named Jones as a suspect connected to the muggings on April 1.

The NYPD charged Jones with three counts of robbery, two counts of assault, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of attempted robbery.

Jones' most recent crime targeted an 83-year-old woman in Kensington on March 26, according to the NYPD.

Police also said the suspect choked and robbed 91-year-old Elizabeth Gioino in her Park Slope home in early March.

In total, Jones has been linked by police to five robberies between Feb. 11 and March 26.

Jones typically followed his victims into their apartment buildings before threatening them with a gun or knife and demanding money, according to police accounts.

At a public meeting on March 30, Deputy Inspector Frank DiGiacomo, who leads the 78th — covering Park Slope, Prospect Park and parts of Gowanus and Prospect Heights — said police may have recovered DNA evidence from the then-unnamed suspect while investigating one of the crime scenes.

At the same meeting, a 71-year-old mugging victim who said she was targeted in her Park Slope home near the intersection of Prospect Place and 6th Avenue said the perpetrator spent an hour inside her apartment. During the horrific ordeal, she said he smacked her on the lip with his gun and tried to tie her up before making off with $375.