Armed Robbers Hit UES, West Village Smoke Shops: Police

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Armed robbers hit two smoke shops in the Upper East Side and the West Village exactly one month apart, according to police..

A pair of young men first waved a gun, then grabbed store goods and $400, from a spoke shop on East 73rd Street and York Avenue on June 16 about 2 p.m., according to the NYPD.

The pair became a trio on July 16, when they hit a shop on West Houston Street and LaGuardia Place about 2:30 p.m., officials said.

The trio kicked in a side door behind the counter, flashed a gun and grabbed an unspecified amount of merchandise, police said.

The group then fled the scene in a dark colored four-door SUV, officials said.

Anyone with information in regard to this 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). All calls are strictly confidential.