A 19-year-old woman was punched in the face and robbed of her cellphone by two men who approached her in front of 4312 3rd Avenue in the Bronx late Sunday night, according to the NYPD. The attack happened at approximately 11:30 p.m. on November 1, and the two suspects fled on foot before officers arrived, leaving investigators with no leads on their identities.
According to NYPD Crime Stoppers
, the two unidentified men first approached the victim and engaged her in a verbal dispute before the confrontation turned physical. One of the men punched her in the face, while the second forcibly took her cellphone, the notice states. Both men then ran off, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
NYPD Crime Stoppers is now offering a reward of up to $3,500 for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), with a Spanish-language line also available at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted through the Crime Stoppers website or the agency's X account, @NYPDTips.
A String of Robberies Across the Bronx
This incident adds to a string of recent robbery reports from the Bronx. The same report notes a robbery at the 170th Street station involving a 61-year-old woman whose purse was forcibly grabbed, though it remains unclear whether that report describes the same event as this one or a separate incident at the station.
Other recent cases reported by the outlet include an October 17 robbery on the East 180th Street station's northbound platform, where an 18-year-old man reported that a suspect brandished a knife and forcibly took his cellphone, credit card, and cash before fleeing on foot. On September 30, NYPD also sought help identifying four people accused of robbing a 29-year-old man elsewhere in the Bronx, taking a wallet and cellphone worth more than $1,000, according to PIX11.
Transit Crime and the Police Response
The broader backdrop to these street robberies includes citywide transit crime trends. Transit robberies were up 15 percent year to date, rising to 136 compared with 118 during the same period the prior year, according to a report attributed to ABC7 New York. In response, the NYPD is reportedly adding 175 officers underground, building on 750 officers the governor had already deployed, per that same report.
For now, the two men involved in Sunday night's robbery on 3rd Avenue remain at large, and investigators are relying on the public for tips that could lead to charges.
