Residents On Edge As Search Continues For Upper West Side Robbery Suspect
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Residents are on edge as police continue to search for a knife-wielding suspect wanted for robberies on the Upper West Side.
Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side is an area considered very safe by residents, but it's there that the NYPD says a woman flashed a knife in an attempt to rob a woman in her 60s and another in her 70s.
Tanya Leybov never expected she'd be mugged a few blocks away from her home.
"I was shocked," she said. "I didn't realize what was going on."
It was just before 7 p.m. back on Feb. 28 when Leybov was walking near west 84th Street and Riverside Drive.
"I decided to take a rest so I sat on the bench and all of a sudden a woman appeared next to me, sat next to me," she said.
But she said that woman had a weapon and was looking for cash.
"She said, 'give me money' and she pulled out a knife and she said, 'I know you have money,'" Leybov said.
She said the suspect repeated herself and that's when Leybov knew she had to act quickly.
"I have a cane so I took my cane and I started screaming," she said.
Police said that time, the suspect ran away empty-handed, but just a few weeks before and a few blocks away, that same woman is believed to have robbed a 72-year-old woman.
Armed with a knife, she demanded the victim's purse, police said. The woman gave up her belongings and the suspect took off.
Many residents in the area are now looking over their shoulders.
"I watch my back, I look around, make sure I know who's around me," said resident Matt Herbek. "But I've never felt unsafe."
"It's pretty awful. I would never want that to happen to me or anyone else," another woman said.
Neither of the two women were hurt during the robberies, but police want to catch this suspect before she has a chance to strike again.
The suspect has been described as a black female in her mid 20s. She is 5 feet tall, weighs 125 pounds and has black curly hair.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS, visit the Crime Stoppers website or text tips to 274637 [CRIMES] and entering TIP577.
