Two suspects are on the run after what police describe as a Valentine’s Day stickup near Liberty Avenue that left a teen and a middle-aged woman shaken and short on cash.
According to details shared by NYPD Crime Stoppers, surveillance images show two people wanted in connection with an armed robbery that happened on Feb. 14 in the vicinity of 97th Street and Liberty Avenue. Investigators say one suspect displayed a firearm and took about $25 from a 19-year-old man’s wallet, while the second suspect grabbed a 45-year-old woman’s purse, searched through it and took property. The pair then took off heading westbound on 97th Street and have not been caught.
NYPD Crime Stoppers posted the surveillance images and a rundown of the case on Facebook on March 6, 2026, in a public appeal for help. The post notes the Feb. 14 date, the Liberty Avenue and 97th Street area, and the ages of the two victims, and urges anyone with information to DM @NYPDTips or call the listed tip line, according to NYPD Crime Stoppers' Facebook post.
Where It Happened And What Police Say
Police say the robbery took place within the NYPD’s 106th Precinct, which covers Ozone Park and parts of South Richmond Hill, per the precinct’s online profile. The precinct lists its stationhouse at 103-53 101st Street and identifies the command handling the investigation.
Residents in the area are no strangers to grab-and-go crimes. Local coverage has flagged recent purse-snatching incidents in the neighborhood, a trend QNS has documented, and detectives are hoping the newly released surveillance images will jog someone’s memory.
How To Submit Tips
Anyone with information can reach the NYPD Crime Stoppers program anonymously by calling 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), using the online tip form, or sending a message to the department’s tips account, according to the city’s Crime Stoppers page. The NYPD notes the program may offer rewards for information that leads to an arrest and indictment.
Investigators are specifically asking people who were in the neighborhood around 97th Street and Liberty Avenue on Feb. 14 to check their phones, home cameras and doorbell footage for anything that might help identify the suspects.
The appeal is one of several recent Crime Stoppers blasts aimed at tracking suspects across Queens, part of an ongoing effort to crowdsource leads from neighborhood video and eyewitnesses. In recent weeks, a Queens smash and grab spree and other cases have also had NYPD detectives turning to the public for help.
