75-Year-Old Robbed of Necklace on Upper West Side, NYPD Hunts Duo in

Source: X/NYPD Crime Stoppers

A 75-year-old woman was walking near 407 Amsterdam Avenue on Manhattan's Upper West Side early Sunday, August 2, when two strangers pulled up in a vehicle, struck up a conversation, and then ripped the necklace right off her neck before speeding away. The theft happened around 7:15 a.m., and the pair has not been identified or caught.

According to NYPD Crime Stoppers, one of the two unidentified individuals engaged the victim in conversation while she was near the address, which sits between West 79th and West 80th Streets on a commercial stretch lined with storefronts and apartment buildings, according to West Side Rag. Moments later, the person snatched the necklace and both suspects fled in the vehicle to parts unknown, per the Crime Stoppers appeal. The location falls within the jurisdiction of the NYPD's 20th Precinct, which covers the Upper West Side between West 59th and West 86th Streets.

🚨WANTED FOR A GRAND LARCENY: On Sunday, August 2, 2026, at approximately 7:15 A.M., in front of 407 Amsterdam Avenue, in the confines of the 20th Precinct, a 75-year-old female victim was approached by two unidentified individuals in a vehicle. One of the individuals engaged the… pic.twitter.com/HPoeoI9AzS
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) August 27, 2026

A Pattern Police Have Been Warning About

The Amsterdam Avenue theft fits a tactic that multiple NYPD precincts flagged to the public throughout August: groups approaching elderly pedestrians from vehicles or on foot to steal or swap gold jewelry, according to the NYPD 71st Precinct. Officers have noted that suspects often rely on friendly ruses, such as offering gifts or asking for directions, to get close enough to grab a victim's chain. Similar vehicle-based distraction thefts have been described elsewhere as typically involving two suspects who approach walking pedestrians under the pretense of needing directions or offering fake jewelry, per a report attributed to the San Francisco Police Department.

Hoodline has previously reported on this style of scam spreading through New York City neighborhoods. In April, Staten Island police warned of a similar scheme targeting seniors, and Queens precincts issued a comparable alert in May covering Flushing. In July, NYPD Crime Stoppers also sought a trio in an Astoria jewelry robbery. Better Business Bureau alerts cited in earlier Hoodline coverage note that traveling theft rings often use cheap costume jewelry stamped 14K or 18K to distract victims while making off with real gold, and that seniors are frequently targeted because perpetrators assume they will not chase a fleeing vehicle.

What the Charge Could Mean for Suspects

Under New York Penal Law § 155.30(5), taking property directly from a victim's body is classified as Fourth Degree Grand Larceny regardless of the item's dollar value, a distinction sometimes called the pickpocket statute because it elevates direct physical theft to a felony due to the heightened risk to the victim. That charge is a Class E felony, and a conviction can carry up to four years in state prison, probation, or fines, though first-time offenders do not face mandatory prison time under sentencing guidelines described by Saland Law.

The 20th Precinct, commanded by Deputy Inspector Candida Sullivan since January 2024, has historically reported low levels of violent firearm crime on the Upper West Side, recording zero homicides and zero shooting incidents through the first five months of 2025, per West Side Rag. Property crimes tell a different story locally: petit larcenies rose 10.3% during that same period even as robberies fell 13.9% in the precinct. Citywide, NYPD CompStat figures for August 2026 show property-related offenses continuing to make up 60% of all major felonies even as overall major felonies fell 6.4% and violent index crime dropped 3.8% year-to-date, according to CompStat in Context.

Anonymous Tips Encouraged

It remains unresolved whether detectives believe this vehicle-based pair is connected to the jewelry-snatching crews recently flagged by precincts across Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island. NYPD Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $3,500 for information leading to an arrest and indictment, and tips can be submitted anonymously by phone at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), in Spanish at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or via direct message on X to @NYPDTips. All tips are kept confidential.