A 20-year-old man riding a southbound 2 train toward the Gun Hill Road station in the Bronx had his necklace ripped from his neck by an unidentified individual on Sunday, July 19, at approximately 5:10 p.m., according to police. The suspect then exited the train at the Burke Avenue station and fled on foot in an unknown direction, leaving investigators with no immediate leads on an identity.
The necklace was valued at approximately $3,000, according to an alert from NYPD Crimestoppers posted to Facebook. NYPD has classified the incident as grand larceny and is asking anyone with information about the unidentified individual to come forward. Tips can be submitted by calling 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or by sending a direct message to @NYPDTips.
Why This Counts as a Felony
Under New York Penal Law § 155.30, stealing property valued between $1,000 and $3,000 qualifies as Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony that can carry up to four years in state prison, according to the New York State Senate. Separately, state law under Penal Law § 155.30(5) holds that physically taking property directly from a victim's body automatically meets the threshold for Fourth-Degree Grand Larceny regardless of the item's market value, per the Law Offices of Jason Bassett. That means prosecutors have more than one legal path to a felony charge even if the necklace's exact value were ever disputed.
The stretch of elevated 2 train track running through Gun Hill Road and Burke Avenue stations falls under NYPD Transit District 12, which is headquartered on Morris Park Avenue and oversees subway safety across several northern Bronx lines, according to NYC.gov. On the surface, the surrounding neighborhood — covering Bronx communities including Olinville, Williamsbridge, and Wakefield — is patrolled by the NYPD's 47th Precinct, which handles law enforcement bounded by Boston Road and the Bronx River. That dual structure means the same corridor can involve two different NYPD commands depending on whether an incident happens underground or at street level.
A Citywide Dip, With a Subway Exception
The theft adds to a run of recent jewelry-snatching cases across the city that NYPD has flagged through its Crime Stoppers program, which offers confidential cash rewards of up to $3,500 for anonymous tips leading to an arrest and indictment in felony cases, per NYC.gov. Earlier this year, Hoodline reported on a suspect who ripped necklaces off a rider waiting on a Midtown subway platform, part of a pattern of quick-hit thefts that tend to happen as trains approach stations or near open doors.
NYPD CompStat data through August 2 shows citywide grand larceny complaints fell 5.3% year-to-date compared to the same period in 2025, dropping from 27,334 to 25,897 reports. But transit crime overall has moved in the opposite direction, ticking up 1.3% year-to-date to 1,297 complaints from 1,280 a year earlier, per NYPD CompStat figures. That divergence follows a 2025 in which subway grand larcenies had actually dropped 7.2% year-over-year to 1,145 cases, according to Vital City.
In response to safety concerns underground, Governor Kathy Hochul allocated an additional $77 million in state funding for enhanced NYPD subway patrols throughout 2026, aimed at boosting visible law enforcement across train cars and platforms, according to Metro Magazine. Whether that funding reaches the Gun Hill Road corridor specifically is not addressed in the police alert, and no suspect description has been released. For now, NYPD is relying on the public to help identify the person who fled the Burke Avenue station on foot.
