Man Robbed By 5 People On Upper West Side, Police Say

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The NYPD is searching for five people accused of violently robbing a 74-year-old man last month on the Upper West Side, police said.

The victim was standing in front of 21 West End Ave., an apartment building located on the corner of West 61st Street, when an unknown man approached him and asked to use his cellphone, police said. When the man refused to lend his phone, four other people surrounded him and demanded the phone and money, police said.

The man who asked to borrow the phone then punched the 74-year-old in the face and took his wallet, police said. The group of five fled the scene heading south on West End Avenue, police said. The victim's wallet contained two credit cards, $75 in cash and an MTA Metrocard, police said.

The Metrocard was used the next morning by a woman boarding a bus at Farmers Boulevard and 112th Avenue in Queens.

Three women and two men are wanted in connection with the robbery, police said.

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