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Woman robbed while riding subway station escalator in Jackson Heights: NYPD

Cops are looking for this suspect who reached into a woman’s backpack to steal her cash and property while riding an escalator in the Jackson Heights transit hub. NYPD

Aug. 14, 2024 By Bill Parry

A 50-year-old woman who was riding the escalator at the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street transit hub fell victim to a grand larcenist who reached into her backpack and removed her cash and personal property while the victim was distracted.

Police from the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst and Transit District 20 are on the lookout for the woman who rummaged through the victim’s backpack at around 7 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 4, taking her cellphone and wallet, which contained $300 in cash and a credit card before jumping onto a northbound E train that was in the station, police said.

The victim was not injured during the incident.

The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect on Tuesday and described her as having a medium complexion with dark hair. She wore a white t-shirt, red sweatpants, and black sneakers, and she had a black tote bag slung over her shoulder while carrying a black hooded sweatshirt.

Anyone with information regarding this grand larceny investigation 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 Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.

Through Aug. 11, the 110th Precinct has reported 673 grand larcenies so far in 2024, 15 more than the 658 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 2.3%, according to the most recent CompStat report. There were 31 transit crimes reported so far this year in the precinct, the same number of cases reported at the same point in 2023, according to CompStat.