Imposter Cops Rob UES Jewelry Store, Police Say

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Two men are facing federal charges for impersonating police officers to rob an Upper East Side jewelry store, an NYPD spokesperson said.

Jose Rodriguez of the Bronx and Ismael Igartua of Queens entered a jewelry store on Third Avenue and East 93rd Street on Saturday dressed as police and flashed fake badges to a store employee, police said. After identifying themselves as cops, the two men snatched jewelry from the store's display cases and fled to the nearby 96th Street and Lexington Avenue subway station.

Real police officers caught up to the phony cops and arrested them inside the station, police said. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York will be in charge of the prosecution, an NYPD spokesperson said.

Federal prosecutors have yet to announce charges in the case.