A man riding a moped has been robbing people of their jewelry across New York City since late September, snatching necklaces and chains from victims as young as their 20s and as old as 69 — and in the most recent incident, stabbing a 30-year-old man in the leg during a struggle over his necklace. Police are now asking the public for help identifying him.
According to News 12 Brooklyn, the suspect has approached victims while riding the moped and snatched necklaces and other jewelry directly off them. The first reported incident happened in front of 2084 Grand Ave. in the Bronx just before 5:50 p.m. on Sept. 30, when police say the suspect snatched a chain valued at around $2,700 from a 54-year-old man. That victim held onto the moped as the suspect tried to flee, and he fell and suffered minor injuries in the process.
A String of Snatch-and-Run Robberies
Five days earlier, on Sept. 25, a second incident was reported in front of 532 W. 145th St. in Manhattan at 4 p.m. In a related Manhattan incident, the suspect allegedly attempted to snatch a necklace from a 44-year-old woman and threatened her to give up her property, the outlet's report states. The pattern has stretched across multiple boroughs in the weeks since, hitting victims in broad daylight and in the evening alike.
The most serious incident so far came on Oct. 8, when the latest robbery was reported near Mount Eden Parkway and Sheridan Avenue in the Bronx around 3 p.m. In that encounter, the suspect tried to snatch a necklace from a 30-year-old man, and the two became involved in a struggle. The suspect then stabbed the man in the leg before taking his property, per the same account. Police have asked anyone with information to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
Part of a Broader Citywide Pattern
This is not the only moped- or scooter-linked jewelry theft pattern NYPD has flagged in recent months. Separately, the NYPD linked three people riding a single motorized scooter to 26 chain-snatching robberies across the Bronx and Manhattan reported between June 29 and Aug. 28, according to Hoodline. Those robberies similarly involved suspects grabbing jewelry — primarily chains — before speeding away from the scene.
Police are also investigating at least eight separate moped robberies across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens that have targeted people's jewelry, specifically necklaces, according to FOX 5 New York. And in a pattern reported this month, two men riding e-bikes were wanted in connection with eight robberies and attempted robberies across the Bronx since September, with five of those incidents occurring in the 49th Precinct in less than half an hour on Sept. 13, per Hoodline's earlier reporting.
Robbery Trends Vary by Precinct
The surge in moped- and scooter-based jewelry robberies comes even as citywide robbery numbers have generally trended downward. NYPD CompStat recorded 8,863 citywide robbery complaints from Jan. 1 through Aug. 30, 2026, a 12% decrease from the 10,068 robberies reported over the same stretch in 2025, the same Hoodline report noted. Still, some precincts have bucked that trend — robbery complaints in the NYPD's 52nd Precinct climbed nearly 9% year-over-year in early 2026, to at least 124 cases.
Other recent patterns underscore how persistent the problem has become. A separate month-long moped pattern across Brooklyn and Queens in mid-2026 targeted 29 pedestrians between June 15 and July 10, and ABC7 New York reported that arrests had been made in seven of those incidents, while 22 remained unsolved at the time. Police previously said that in October 2024, a pair of assailants used a motorcycle as a getaway vehicle during six robberies of expensive jewelry across the 41st, 44th and 49th precincts. The city has acknowledged the broader issue as well — a 2024 statement from NYC.gov noted that crime patterns involving street robberies and grand larcenies using illegal scooters and mopeds have steadily increased since 2022.
No arrest has been announced in the moped-riding suspect's case, and police have not released a name or description of him beyond his use of the moped to approach victims. Anyone with information is urged to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers.
