A 21-year-old man trying to sell clothing through an online meetup instead found himself facing three strangers and a gun outside 1261 Findlay Avenue in the Bronx on Tuesday, August 11, at around 5:45 p.m. The trio approached him, one displayed what appeared to be a firearm, and they made off with roughly $1,700 worth of clothing before fleeing on foot northbound on Findlay Avenue.
According to NYPD Crime Stoppers, the victim had arranged the meeting online specifically to sell the clothing to an individual he did not know personally. Investigators have not identified any of the three suspects and are asking the public for help. The agency is offering up to $3,500 for an anonymous tip that leads to an arrest and indictment, and tips can be submitted by phone at 1-800-577-TIPS, in Spanish at 1-888-57-PISTA, through the Crime Stoppers website, or via direct message to @NYPDTips on X.
🚨WANTED FOR A ROBBERY: On Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at approximately 5:45 P.M., a 21-year-old male arranged online to meet with an unidentified individual at 1261 Findlay Avenue, in the confines of the 44 Precinct in the Bronx, to sell clothing. Three unidentified individuals… pic.twitter.com/i5j6d0XVby
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) August 28, 2026
The robbery occurred within the confines of the NYPD's 44th Precinct, whose station house sits at 2 East 169th Street, just blocks from the Findlay Avenue address, per the NYPD. The precinct covers roughly 1.97 square miles of the southwest Bronx, including the Concourse, Highbridge, and Claremont neighborhoods, and the block itself sits in a residential corridor of mostly multi-family buildings, according to property listing site Traded.
A Setup With a History of Risk
Online meetup robberies like this one have been enough of a concern that the NYPD created a specific countermeasure back in November 2023, launching 24/7 “E-commerce Exchange Zones” outside precinct station houses citywide, including at the 44th Precinct, as reported by FOX 5 New York. The zones are meant to give buyers and sellers a well-lit, video-monitored place to complete transactions instead of meeting on a residential side street. National marketplace platforms have pushed similar safeguards; OfferUp, for instance, partners with law enforcement agencies to set up official Community MeetUp Spots with round-the-clock lighting and surveillance, guidance that generally advises against private residential meetups for high-value sales.
Findlay Avenue has seen isolated violence before: in November 2019, police investigated a stray-bullet shooting on the block tied to an off-street dispute, according to CBS New York. Whether this robbery connects to any broader pattern of similar setups in the borough remains an open question for investigators.
Robbery Numbers Tell Two Different Stories
Citywide, robbery complaints in New York are actually down sharply this year — NYPD CompStat data through the week ending August 23, 2026 shows 8,560 reported robberies, a 12.2% drop from the 9,752 logged over the same stretch in 2025. But that trend doesn't hold locally: NYPD crime statistics through July 26, 2026 show robberies in the 44th Precinct climbed 7.7% year-to-date, to 154 complaints compared with 143 during the same period last year, placing the precinct among the higher totals for reported robberies across Bronx commands this year.
Steep Legal Exposure If Suspects Are Caught
Displaying what appeared to be a firearm during the theft elevates the case to Robbery in the First Degree under New York Penal Law § 160.15, a Class B violent felony, according to FindLaw. A conviction carries a mandatory minimum of five years in state prison and a maximum of up to 25 years, per the New York Lawyers legal resource site.
The Crime Stoppers reward program itself is run through the nonprofit New York City Police Foundation, which funds payouts through private corporate and individual donations rather than tax dollars, the Washington Post has reported. Tipsters remain anonymous, receiving a tracking number instead of having their phone number or personal information recorded, and rewards can be collected once a suspect is arrested and indicted — not necessarily convicted — according to CBS News.
This marks at least the fourth robbery Hoodline has covered this month tied to the 44th Precinct, following a moped-riding chain robbery crew on Exterior Street, a barbershop slashing and phone theft on McClellan Street, and a separate gunpoint robbery that also stemmed from an online marketplace deal gone wrong. No arrests have been announced in the Findlay Avenue case, and anyone with information is urged to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers.
-4.webp?w=160&h=400&fit=crop&crop=edges)
