Phone-Swiping Teens Sought In String Of Park Slope Train Robberies: PD

BROOKLYN, NY — A group of teenage boys have been swiping straphangers' iPhones from within Brooklyn subway stations, two of which are in Park Slope, police said.

The string of robberies began on June 16 about 6:15 p.m. at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station, according to the NYPD.

While waiting for the R train, a teen asked a 64-year-old straphanger for the time before swiping an iPhone 13 from her bag and running off, police said.

The phone is worth $1,300, according to NYPD records.

The robberies continued the next month, first at the Nostrand Avenue subway station in Crown Heights on July 6 and then at the Bergen Street subway station in Park Slope on July 9.

In Crown Heights, a teen riding a 3 train about 11:15 p.m. swiped a straphanger's iPhone 12 from her hand and ran off with the $950 device, police said.

Several days later, while aboard a 2 train in Park Slope about 12:45 a.m., a group of teens stole a woman's iPhone 12 mini from her hand and ran off with the device, according to the NYPD.

In addition to stealing the $1,000 phone in Park Slope, the teens made off with the straphanger's backpack, which contained personal items and about $60, police said.

No one was hurt during any of these robberies, according to the NYPD.

Police described the phone swipers as three teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18.

As of Aug. 3 police are still investigating the incidents and no arrests have been made, the NYPD announced.