Two robbers are preying on partygoers in Clinton Hill, targeting victims who have had too much to drink, police say.
Cops are on the hunt for a gun-toting thug and a bandit on a bike believed to be responsible for a string of early morning muggings over the past week.
Investigators say that the thieves are different but their methods are the same — they’re attacking people who may be stumbling home in the wee hours.
“I’m not blaming the victims, but many of them are intoxicated so they’re easy prey,” said Deputy Inspector Anthony Tasso, the 88th Precinct’s commanding officer. “The suspects are going wherever they see the opportunity.”
In the latest attack, a goon knocked a woman to the ground on Irving Place at 4:30 am on Dec. 31 — snatching her purse containing $150.
The 28-year-old victim told police that she was in front of her home near Gates Avenue when the creep pounced.
This week, authorities released harrowing surveillance footage of the same suspect — described as a 5-foot-10 African American man in his 30s — striking a woman in her lobby on Christmas Day.
The 28-year-old victim said that the thug trailed her on his bike as she left a holiday party at 3 am. When she entered her residence on Downing Street near Putnam Avenue, he pushed his way inside and hit her with a metal object.
Tasso said that the precinct is also trying to catch a mugger with a silver gun who held up three victims within 48 hours last week.
Police describe the pistol-wielding perp as a man in his early 20s who is between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10 and wears a blue hoodie.
• On Dec. 27, the crook robbed a man on Greene Avenue, snatching his iPhone, $60, hat and sunglasses, according to cops.
The 34-year-old victim told police that he was near St. James Place at 5:17 am when the thief displayed a silver handgun and yelled, “Give me everything. Money, money, money!”
• The next day, he held up a 35-year-old man on Washington Avenue at 2:15 am as the victim sat on his friend’s stoop after a party.
The victim, a Manhattan doctor, told cops that he was near Greene Avenue when the rustler appeared.
“He came out of nowhere and put a gun in our face,” said the victim, who asked not to be named. “He looked like a young kid.”
• Then, on Dec. 28, the thug held up a 28-year-old man for his cellphone on St. James Place.
The victim told investigators he was near Lafayette Avenue at 2:40 am when the thug demanded his Samsung phone and $5.
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-8477, submit tips on www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or text tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter “TIP577.”
Reach Kate Briquelet at [email protected] or by calling her at (718) 260-2511.
