Thief Targets Older Women in NYC, Steals Their Jewelry: NYPD - NBC New York
A thief has been targetting older women around the city and stealing their jewelry, even snatching a 76-year-old woman's wedding ring, police said Saturday.
The eight victims ranged in age from 66 to 94 and all but one were women, the NYPD said. They were robbed between May 30 and July 22 in Flushing, Bushwick, East Harlem and the Bronx.
Police are looking for Ezequiel Ortiz, 34, in connection with the robberies.
In the first robbery, the thief approached a 76-year-old woman on Myrtle Avenue in Flushing and offered to clean her wedding band, police said. When she took off the $600 ring, he grabbed it and ran.
Sometimes the robber offered to clean the jewelry, other times he convinced the victims to take it off, and yet other times he just snatched necklaces and rings, police said.
The oldest victim, a 94-year-old man, was outside on East Fordham Road in the Bronx on July 22 when the robber came up, took a $500 ring from his finger and ran off, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
