Serial Bike-Riding Crook Strikes On Upper East Side: NYPD

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A violent crook, armed and riding a Citi Bike, is terrorizing businesses and pedestrians on Manhattan's East Side, committing a string of alarming muggings and robberies, police said.

According to an NYPD spokesperson, the individual is believed to be accountable for at least nine robberies within the past two weeks.

Each of the nine incidents, across all different neighborhoods on the East Side of the city, occurred in an eerily similar way, officials said.

Police report that in each incident, the suspect brandishes a simulated firearm and often uses a CitiBike to approach his victims and facilitate his escape.

The man's first target was on May 19, around 2:30 a.m., near E 24th St. and Second Ave., police said. He rode up on a CitiBike and demanded a credit card from a 25-year-old man, stating he was armed.

Approximately eight hours later, at 10:15 a.m., the suspect stormed into a store on Second Ave. near 38th St., brandishing a firearm before fleeing on a CitiBike with $200 from the register, officials said.

On May 23, around 2:05 a.m., the same individual struck again, this time on the Upper East Side at 1248 Lexington Ave., near 85th St. He threatened to shoot an employee while intimating he had a gun before fleeing with $250 from a store register, police said.

Three days later, the culprit struck again, carrying out three robberies in a single day, as reported by the police. In one instance, he threatened to shoot and demanded cash from a 28-year-old man walking on Lexington Ave. near E. 95th St. before fleeing the scene on a CitiBike.

On May 28, at about 3:46 a.m., the suspect rode up to the window of the business on Third Ave. and E. 106th St., displaying the outline of a firearm and demanded money from the employee before fleeing on the Citi Bike with $300. The suspect headed westbound on E. 106 St., cops said.

Authorities are looking for a man approximately 6 feet tall, described as wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a black hat, black sneakers, and blue pants, according to police.

Thefts were also reported in the East Village and Kips Bay.

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).