Bike Riding Thief Snatches Phones In Manhattan, Police Say

NEW YORK, NY — The NYPD is trying to identify a man wanted in connection with several cellphone robberies in Manhattan, police said.

The man is accused of stealing at least seven cellphones by biking up to people on the street and snatching their phones while they are using them, police said. The majority of the robberies have taken place on the Upper East Side and in East Harlem.

The bike-riding robber began his crime spree on May 28 by riding up to a woman on the corner of East 99th Street and Madison Avenue and grabbing her phone from her hands, police said. All of the subsequent robberies have followed the same formula, and the man is quite good. In only two instances, the target was able to hang onto their phone during the attempted robbery, police said.

The man's most recent robbery attempt occurred on June 4 in the vicinity of East 76th Street and Third Avenue, police said. Most of the robberies occur in the late afternoon or early evening, police said.

The man has committed four robberies on the Upper East Side, two in East Harlem and one in Central Harlem, police said.

The suspect is described as a man in his late teens or early 20s who was last seen wearing a white tank top, red shorts and riding a white bicycle, police said.

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

Photo by NYPD