Police Search For Suspect In Queens Livery Cab Robberies
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police on Wednesday were asking the public to help them find a suspect in a string of livery cab robberies in Queens going back to October.
Three of the robberies happened on one single block in East Elmhurst, and a fourth occurred in Ridgewood.
In the first incident, around 12:43 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12, the 49-year-old male livery cab driver was dispatched to 27-44 Ericsson St. in Queens. When the livery cab arrived, one suspect asked the driver to open the trunk, while the other demanded property.
The driver was struck in the face, but did not hand anything over and the suspects left without property, police said. Minor injuries were reported.
In the second incident around 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, the 43-year-old male driver was sent to 17-16 Stephen St. in Queens. One suspect asked him to open the trunk, while the other displayed a firearm and demanded property, police said.
The victim complied and the suspects took unspecified items. No one was injured.
In the third incident around 5:28 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, a 43-year-old male driver was dispatched to 27-40 Ericsson St. in Queens, and one suspect again asked the driver to open the trunk, displayed a gun and demanded property. The driver handed over personal property items.
And in the final incident at 6:10 a.m. this past Friday, a 43-year-old male driver was again dispatched to 27-40 Ericsson St. in Queens, and one suspect again demanded that he open the trunk, displayed a gun and demanded property. The victim refused and the suspect left empty-handed.
Police have released a surveillance video showing the man being sought for questioning using a credit card belonging to the victim from the third incident.
Police did not indicate whether the same livery cab driver was targeted more than once, or if they were all different. Police also did not specify why the suspects used the same block on Ericsson Street repeatedly for their crimes.
Anyone with information was asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, log onto the Crime Stoppers website, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577.
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