A brutal masked theft team tried to grab three women’s handbags-with success one bag-in a series of Upper East Side stick-ups at the end of last month, Cops said.
The group of five crooks that teenagers or young men seem to be striking for the first time a 32-year-old woman who ran on East 75th Street around 8:20 pm in the vicinity of Second Avenue, according to the authorities.
They grabbed her handbag with cash and credit cards before they walked away, the police said.
The victim has not reported any injuries.
Immediately after that robbery, the criminal quintet then tried to grab a 38-year-old female wallet on Third Avenue and East 78th Street, Cops said.
But the victim held on to her bag and the suspects fled empty -handed, the police said.
The woman refused medical attention to minor injuries.
The bandits took two days off before they approached a 71-year-old woman in Second Avenue and East 70th Street around 5:40 pm January 21, the authorities said.
They tried to grab her bag, but the senior did not let go and they fled again without any loot, according to the police.
The Septuagenarian also suffered minor injuries and refused medical help.
The suspects, trapped on surveillance video that passed through the emergency gate in a metro station, let their hoods pull up with black masks that cover some of their faces.
No arrests had been made on Tuesday.
Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers-Hotel on 1-800-577 tips (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-Pista (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging in to the Crime Stoppers website https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/Or on x @nypdtips.
