UWS Worship Center Thief Sought In Backpack Snatch, NYPD Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY - The New York Police Department is looking for a man who snatched a backpack from an Upper West Side religious institution Wednesday.

A man entered the Hephzibah House on 75th Street and Columbus Avenue through unlocked doors about 11:09 a.m. and stole a backpack from the location, Patch previously reported. The NYPD clarified this week the thief took a backpack, not a purse, from the site.

The backpack and the items inside - which included credit cards, sunglasses and cash - are worth a total $600, police said.

The man fled on foot in an unknown direction, police said. There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information in regard to the 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).