Surveillance photos of the suspects captured from Incident #4 at 106th and 5th Avenue.
Police say that a group of teenagers has been robbing people in Central Park over the past month and a half, often assaulting bicyclists and stealing their property.
NYPD says the teens are black and between 16 and 18 years old. They’ve detailed the incidents below. We’ve also detailed another unrelated attempted robbery at the bottom of this post.
Incident #1 (22 Pct): It was reported to police that on Friday, September 16, 2016, at approximately 0035 hours, at 76th and East Drive at Central Park, the individual approached, the victim, a 86-year-old male as he was walking passed the entrance of the park and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, throwing on the ground and causing a contusion on his right side upper cheek bone before removing his wallet containing approximately $20 and credit cards. The victim refused medical attention.
Incident #2 (22 Pct): It was reported to police that on Friday, October 7, 2016, at approximately 1510 hours, at Transverse road number one and East Drive at Central Park, the individuals approached, the victim, a 60-year-old male and attempted to jump in his pedicab and remove his Iphone 6s. There were no property removed.
Incident #3 (22 Pct): It was reported to police that on Friday, October 7, 2016, at approximately 2320 hours, the individuals approached, the victim, a 21-year-old male as he was walking southbound on the pathway inside Central Park Avenue at 69th Street and East Drive towards 5th Avenue and punched him in the back of the head and kicked him while he was on the ground. The individuals then removed his Samsung Galaxy cellphone and Nexus tablet before fleeing northbound.
Incident #4 (23 Pct): It was reported to police that on Monday, October 10, 2016, at approximately 0003 hours, the individuals approached, the victim, a 31-year-old male while he was riding his bicycle southbound on 5th Avenue and East 102nd Street and attempted to grab his back pack off him. The individuals did strike the victim on the left side of his face causing minor pain. The individuals then fled on foot southbound on 5th Avenue. There were no other injuries as a result of this incident.
Incident #5 (22 Pct): It was reported to police that on Monday, October 10, 2016, at approximately 0010 hours, the individuals approached, the victim, a 47-year-old male while riding a Citibike northbound on East Drive at 95th Street and demanded him to get off his bike and then punched him once on the right side of the face causing him to fall of the bike as a result. The individuals then removed his Iphone 7 before fleeing on foot southbound inside Central Park from 95th Street and East Drive. There were no injuries as a result of this incident.
The individuals on the above incidents involve a group of male Blacks, approximately 16 to 18 years old and use physical force to remove property from victims.
Anyone with information in regards to this 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). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
A Walk in the Park blog also detailed an unrelated attempted robbery that occurred on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. in the North Woods near at 109th and East Drive. “A 28-year-old man told police he was attacked by a white male in his 40’s, who punched him in the nose and took his silver Apple I-phone 6. The victim struggled with the attacker and was able to wrestle his phone back. The assailant punched him in the head and face then fled westbound out of the park without the phone.”
notice the times most of the assaults were committed “2320 hours”, “0035 hours”. criminals work WHEN IT IS DARK. if you are in the park at midnight you deserve whatever happens to you. that’s right, the NYPD cannot be EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME, and if you have to “prepare for a marathon”, then TOO BAD.
Excuse me, but I thought it was Progressive ™ truth that you are not allowed to blame the victim? You mean, people are responsible for their actions? Don’t let the NYTimes find out!
3:10 PM; broad daylight!
Shouldn’t that be “There was no property removed”?
How can 5:30 PM this past Friday, which was more than twenty minutes before sundown, be considered “night”? Evening would be the appropriate term. (One could even, perhaps, get away with “late afternoon”.)
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@ UWSHebrew:
I agree that being in the park after dark or at least as late as most (though certainly not all, as I pointed-out above) of these crimes are reported to have occurred is imprudent. But does that, in any way, absolve the thugs who commit such crimes? Your comments imply that they are so absolved. I am not the only one to find that disturbing.
UWSHebrew thinks none of us should go out to eat or see friends after work in the winter. They must lead a very boring life. Maybe victim-blaming is where they get their excitement.
I said “midnight in the park”. Not midnight in Manhattan, IN THE PARK. Do you understand English? PARK. PARK PARK PARK.
Your comments are very irritating and don’t shed light on or help a thing! So unnecessarily aggressive.
Yes, very aggressive and unhelpful of me to say you should not be in Central Park after midnight. What do you suggest, going to Central Park at midnight and fighting off your attackers from the self-defense classes you took? It won’t help, you’re a woman and you are no match for a strong 18 year old man. No. Match.
Folks, we can all have multiple thoughts about this: a) crime should never happen, day or night; b) the fault lies with the criminal(s); and c) it is prudent not to be in Central Park in the middle of the night.
nycityny, you have encapsulated my own thoughts on the matter. I would only add the following.
No question, thugs remain fully culpable for the crimes they commit no matter what time of day they commit them. But as long as the reality of the increased dangers of parks after dark remains what it is, those who choose to ignore the prudent counsel to avoid them do so entirely at their own risk. Such individuals, therefore, cannot be held entirely without blame, should any ill fate befall them as a direct result of their having made such an imprudent, ill-advised choice. Choices have consequences.
(Similarly, people who choose to engage in any voluntary, inordinately high-risk behaviors– whether dietary, recreational, sexual or otherwise– must be held accountable for their behavior. The heavy burdens that are inevitably incurred as a result of such behaviors, financial and otherwise, must not be unduly placed upon society as a whole.)
Thank you!
Has anyone ever heard of a case where the victim fights back? Other than that guy on the train in the 80s…
I would love to one day read through an article like this and see that the victim was able to beat the living sh*t out of one of these kids.
I suppose they choose their victimes wisely and I would be an unlikely target.
WSR recently reported on a woman who fought off her attacker.
If physical violence we immanent, I’d fight.
And, if necessary, take revenge.
yes they target physically weak-looking people, especially the elderly and women. Tall/built men are too much trouble (maybe why I’ve never been attacked).
UWSHebrew—exactly ONE of the victims was elderly. The others are all 60 and under, and mostly bike riders. Your comments are consistently nasty and often untrue.
This is why we need to keep the 2nd amendment the way it is. If more folks had a carry and conceal in NYC there would be less robbery’s
Yeah, brilliant.
Less robberies and countless more shootings. Bravo!! You should run for Mayor…or at least Police Commissioner.
Oh and by the way, I have a CCW so i’m not anti-gun. Trust me. I just don’t like the idea of knuckleheads like you having one. Call me a hypocrite, doesn’t bother me one bit.
No, thanks, I don’t want every pissed-off moron in the five boroughs waving a gun around and getting people hurt. Which (statistics show) is what would happen FAR more frequently than anyone would fight off an attacker with one.
I agree. The police can’t be everywhere at all times. Just once, I’d like to see one of these criminals get what’s coming to him.
I agree
I’m feeling very “death wish” today as I contemplate a stroll through the park at midnight…….
NYPD says the teens are black
Today, at around 12:30 pm, I was walking down Broadway (toward 59th street). When I was between 65 and 66th street (right by lincoln center) – a kid just punched me in the face. Luckily, he just caught my chin – so I recovered quickly. Called 911 and followed him (he turned down 66th street (toward amsterdam). Police eventually came, but by that time he was gone. Broad daylight, surrounded by fellow pedestrians.