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Police Searching for Suspect Tied to String of Business Robberies in Woodside and Central Queens

Police are looking for a man, pictured, wanted for robbing six businesses throughout central Queens over the past month (Photo: NYPD)

Nov. 11, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

Police are looking for a man wanted for robbing six businesses throughout central Queens over the past month.

The alleged thief hit several bodegas as well as a pizzeria — from Oct. 20 through Nov. 1 — and made off with more than $9,000 cash, according to police.

In each incident, the suspect took cash from a store register before fleeing. In each case, he displayed a knife and threatened employees.

None of the store workers were injured, police said.

The first robbery took place in Woodside on Oct. 20 at around 1:30 a.m. when the suspect entered a bodega, located at 69-03 Northern Blvd., and brandished a knife before demanding cash from the register. The perpetrator then took $2,000 cash and fled westbound on Northern Boulevard, police said.

About a week later, on Oct. 26, the thief raided a store inside the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst just after midnight and made off with $3,500, the NYPD said.

The following evening, at around 11:30 p.m., the suspect struck a bodega in Flushing, located at 60-08 Main St. Using the same modus operandi, the thief demanded a worker hand over cash from a register after he displayed a knife. He then grabbed around $1,200 and fled northbound on Main Street.

Three days later, the alleged perpetrator targeted a convenience store/smoke shop in Woodside, located 39-58 61st St., at around 5:25 a.m. He pocketed around $2,000 and then fled the scene toward 39th Avenue, police said.

The suspect targeted a convenience store/smoke shop in Woodside, located 39-58 61st St., on Oct. 30 (Google Maps)

The crime spree continued on Nov. 1 at around 1:30 a.m. when the suspect attempted to rob Papa John’s Pizza in Elmhurst, located at 90-35 Corona Ave. However, the perpetrator couldn’t get the cash register to open and then fled the scene empty-handed, police said.

Around 90 minutes later the thief hit a convenience store/smoke shop in Elmhurst, located 95-01 57th Ave., and managed to steal around $380 cash, police said.

Police say that the thief stole around $9,080 cash in total from the Queens businesses.

The assailant’s latest robbery is alleged to have taken place in Brooklyn on Nov. 3. The thief allegedly took $700 cash from a register from a deli in the Clinton Hill section of the borough having threatened the worker there with a knife, police said.

The NYPD released video of the suspect Friday carrying out one of the alleged robberies.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.. All calls are strictly confidential.