The NYPD is calling on Staten Island neighbors to help track down a suspect they say pulled off a three-day streak of armed stickups at small businesses earlier this month. Detectives say the same individual walked into local storefronts with a black handgun, briefly confronted customers, then took off on foot. The department’s Crime Stoppers unit posted surveillance stills and a full timeline of the hits on April 22.
According to that post, the pattern started on Sunday, April 12 at about 1:20 a.m., when a person walked into a commercial storefront at 425 Vanderbilt Avenue, flashed a black firearm, and grabbed cash from a 37-year-old customer as well as from a vehicle parked out front. The bulletin adds that on April 14 an armed robbery at 171 Broad Street netted about $1,000 from the register, and on April 15 a commercial business on Victory Boulevard lost roughly $600, per NYPD Crime Stoppers on Facebook.
Surveillance Stills And The Timeline
Investigators are urging locals to hang on to any door-cam clips or cell phone video that might show the suspect’s face or escape route. The NYPD Crime Stoppers program says tips can be submitted anonymously by calling 1-800-577-TIPS (or the Spanish line at 1-888-57-PISTA) or by sending an internet tip, per the NYPD Crime Stoppers program page.
How This Fits With Recent Alerts
This latest wanted notice lands on top of a string of springtime alerts that have also asked for public help after late-night robberies and assaults on Staten Island. Hoodline previously covered a March case involving a knife-wielding mugger that sparked a similar plea for tips and video from nearby residents.
Potential Criminal Exposure
Under New York law, displaying or using a firearm while committing a theft can bump the crime up to robbery in the second degree, and in some situations first degree, both of which are felonies that carry significant penalties, according to New York Penal Law Article 160.
What Investigators Want
Detectives say anyone who recognizes the person in the images, or who captured relevant video, should save that footage and contact Crime Stoppers. Tips may qualify for a reward and can be submitted online at the Crime Stoppers portal or by calling 1-800-577-TIPS (Spanish: 1-888-57-PISTA). The bulletin also flags the department’s social tip line @NYPDTips on X.
