Cell Phone Snatcher Strikes in Subway

Man Snatches 4 Cell Phones in 24 Hours

Police are searching for this man in connection with a series of cell phone robberies on subway trains in Manhattan and the Bronx. -Photo by NYPD

By Dan Gesslein

NYC News Network

October 14, 2023

NEW YORK - Cops are searching for a subway cell phone snatcher who ripped off 4 people in two boroughs, within a 24-hour period. 

Police released surveillance video of a man suspected of snatching cell phones from riders along the Number 6 line in both Manhattan and the Bronx. The suspect is seen on the video wearing a black hoodie that reads in part “We are all Aliens to Everyone Somebody….” 

Cops said the socially conscious crook first struck by ripping a cell phone out of the hands of a 79-year-old man inside a Number 6 train at the 51st Street Station. He then fled the subway car. The robbery occurred around 2:15 pm on October 9. 

Fifteen minutes later the crook struck again on a southbound F Train. As the train was pulling into the 23rd Street Station, the crook ripped the phone out of the hands of a 56-year-old man. With the stolen cell phone in hand the suspect ran out of the train at the station.  

That same day the suspect was linked to another crime in the Bronx. At around 8 pm, a 61-year-old woman was riding a southbound Number 6 train approaching the Brook Avenue Station. The crook snatched the phone out of her hands and ran out of the train at the station. 

Seven hours later cops said the same man struck again on the Number 6 line. At 7:30 am on October 10, a 56-year-old man was waiting on the platform at the Zerega Avenue Station. 

The crook approached the straphanger and put the man in a headlock. He proceeded to punch the victim multiple times. Cops said the robber ripped the fanny pack off the victim and fled to the street below. 

Anyone with information in regard 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 CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. 

All calls are strictly confidential.