Armed Robber Rips Chain Off Bronx Man, 66, Then Pedals Off on Citi Bike

A 66-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint in Van Cortlandt Village last month after an attacker crept up behind him as he stepped out of his car, snatched the chain from his neck, and pedaled away on a Citi Bike. Police say the victim suffered a laceration on his elbow but refused medical attention at the scene.

According to an NYPD Crime Stoppers bulletin issued Tuesday, the robbery unfolded around 7:30 p.m. on July 25 near Sedgwick and Hillman avenues, when the armed suspect approached the man from behind, displayed a firearm, and forcibly removed the chain from his neck. The attacker then fled southbound on Orloff Avenue aboard a Citi Bike, as reported by News 12 Bronx. Police are asking anyone with information to contact the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

The getaway detail stands out because it breaks from a citywide pattern law enforcement has spent years trying to crack down on. Robbery complaints involving mopeds, scooters, and other light two-wheelers surged from 44 complaints across 10 patterns in early 2022 to more than 415 complaints across 79 patterns during the same stretch in 2024, prompting the NYPD to seize over 5,700 unregistered micro-mobility vehicles through May, Hoodline previously reported. A rider on a city bikeshare bike, however, presents a different enforcement challenge than an unregistered moped or scooter.

A Familiar Corner for Armed Robberies

The Sedgwick and Hillman intersection has seen this kind of crime before. In October 2022, armed suspects displayed a firearm to two victims in a similar pattern before stealing a chain from another victim nearby in Kingsbridge, according to an earlier NYPD Crime Stoppers bulletin. It is not known whether the July robbery was connected to that earlier pattern or whether the suspect targeted the 66-year-old man opportunistically as he exited his vehicle or had tracked him beforehand — police have not said.

Under New York Penal Law § 160.15, forcibly stealing property while displaying what appears to be a firearm is classified as Robbery in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, according to the Law Offices of Michael Mullen. A conviction carries a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 25 years in state prison.

Mixed Crime Trends in the 50th Precinct

The robbery adds to a string of recent chain-snatching incidents that have unsettled parts of the northern Bronx even as broader crime statistics have improved. Just blocks from Van Cortlandt Village, a 36-year-old man was slashed across the arm and robbed of his gold chain near Broadway and Van Cortlandt Park South in July by two suspects who fled on a moped, Hoodline reported at the time in a piece headlined Moped Robbers Slash Man's Chain.

Robbery complaints in the 50th Precinct, which covers Van Cortlandt Village, Riverdale, and Kingsbridge, had actually been trending downward before this summer, dropping 25% in 2025 to 103 incidents from 138 in 2024, a decline of more than 35% compared to 2023, per The Riverdale Press. But shootings have moved in the opposite direction: while major crime fell 12% across the Bronx overall in the first half of 2026, the 50th Precinct recorded a doubling of shooting incidents from three to six and a 150% rise in shooting victims from four to 10 compared to the same period in 2025, per News12 Bronx's earlier reporting. That divergence helps explain heightened community sensitivity to armed street encounters like the one on Sedgwick Avenue.

Command Shakeup Coming to the Precinct

Local officials have already moved to respond to precinct-level crime concerns. Bronx Community Board 8 confirmed in February that the NYPD plans to realign its Bronx command structure by splitting the borough into two separate patrol commands, Bronx North and Bronx South, with the 50th Precinct assigned to Bronx North in an effort to boost police presence. Whether that restructuring will affect the pace of armed street robberies in Van Cortlandt Village remains to be seen.

Anyone with information about the July 25 robbery is urged to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers, which offers cash rewards of up to $3,500 for anonymous tips that lead to an arrest and indictment in Bronx armed robbery cases.