Upper West Side Smoke Shop Robbed 3 Times In Last 2 Months: NYPD

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Bandits have their eyes on an Upper West Side smoke shop as it has been robbed three times in the last couple of months, including this week, police said Wednesday.

The 96 Tabacco Shop at 2571 Broadway has been robbed for thousands of dollars in merchandise three times by three different people between Jan. 30 and March 6, police said.

The first unfolded Jan. 30 about 3:30 p.m. when a man walked into the store between 96th and 97th streets, jumped over the counter and tried to grab a bag of unspecified merchandise, police said. He pushed an employee out of the way who tried to stop him, and made off with $200 worth of goods, authorities said.

A few weeks later, a man walked into the smoke shop on Feb. 21 about 11:15 a.m. and started a conversation with an employee, police said. He then quickly kicked open a security gate that blocked off an area behind the counter and grabbed roughly $600 in unspecified merchandise, authorities said.

The man then ran off with the goods, police said.

Most recently, on Monday about 9:30 a.m., a man walked into the store, went behind the counter, and grabbed around $1,565 worth of merchandise from a display without permission, police said.

He then ran away, police added.

The 96 Tabacco Shop did not immediately return a call from Patch.

Anyone with information in regard to these incidents is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).