Moped Bandit Targets Midtown Necklace Wearers; 3 Chains Snatched

Cops across three Manhattan precincts are on the hunt for a moped-riding bandit who’s been tearing the necklaces off unsuspecting pedestrians in the early morning hours. Police call it a grand larceny pattern.

If the pre-dawn ayem isn’t the most the target-rich time to plunder the midtown business district, these hours do have their advantages for bandits, not least relatively open sidewalks upon which to approach a victim and speed away, and a greatly reduced number of potential human witnesses, which makes it tougher for police to track the case.

Here is what video cameras have caught:

Incident #1 (14th Precinct–Midtown South):

On Friday, July 11, at approximately 2:50am, a 27-year-old male victim was walking in the vicinity of Sixth Avenue and West 35th Street when an unidentified individual on a blue-and-black moped approached him from behind and snatched a chain from the victim’s neck.

Other than losing his necklace, the victim was unharmed.

Incident #2 (17th Precinct):

On July 29, at approximately 3:25am, a 47-year-old male victim was walking in front of 139 E. 56th St. when an individual on a blue-and-black moped approached the victim from behind and snatched the chain from his neck.

The suspect then fled west on East 56th Street.

Incident #3 (Midtown North Precinct):

On July 31, at approximately 2am, a 27-year-old female victim was walking in the vicinity of 888 Eighth Ave., between West 52nd and 53rd streets, when an unidentified individual on a blue-and-black moped approached her from behind.

The individual snatched the victim’s chain off her neck and fled, traveling northbound on Eighth Avenue.

The sought individual is described as male. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants, white sneakers and a black balaclava.

Anyone with information regarding 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). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crimestoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.

Moped Crime Up

The scope of the moped- and scooter-based crime gangs appears to be increasing drastically.

A recent New York Post story on moped crime found that, according to NYPD stations, from December 2020 to April 20, 2021, mopeds or scooters were used in 461 crimes.

In that same time period in 2022 and 2023, the numbers were 1,626 and 1,785.