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Armed robbers sought for allegedly stealing nearly $5K in lottery tickets from Astoria shop: NYPD

Cops are looking for these suspects for allegedly robbing an Astoria shop at gunpoint, making off with nearly $5,000 in stolen lottery tickets. NYPD

Jan. 13, 2025 By Bill Parry

Police from the 114th Precinct in Astoria are looking for two armed robbers who were caught on camera jumping a subway turnstile at the Broadway subway station while carrying a stolen plastic dispenser packed with thousands of dollars worth of lottery tickets on the night of Wednesday, Jan. 8.

The perpetrators targeted a commercial establishment minutes earlier, entering a shop located at 31-02 Broadway and pulled out a handgun and forcibly removed approximately $4,800 worth of lottery tickets, police said Sunday. The gunmen exited the store and ran to the N train station. No injuries were reported during the heist.

Investigators said the duo is also wanted for pulling a similar armed robbery in Manhattan late last month. Police from the 6th Precinct in the Meatpacking District reported that the two crooks entered a store located at 46 8th Avenue and simulated a firearm before snatching approximately $2,100 worth of lottery tickets before running off in an unknown direction. Nobody in the shop was harmed.

The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspects jumping the Astoria subway station turnstile with the stolen lottery dispenser and described them as having medium complexions.

One wore a black hooded winter jacket over a gray hooded sweatshirt with a white facemask, gray sweatpants, and white sneakers, and he carried a black tote bag. The other suspect was right behind him, lugging the plastic lottery dispenser and dropping nothing while clearing the turnstile. He wore a black hooded winter jacket over a black hoodie with a black face mask, black pants, black sneakers, and blue latex gloves.

Anyone with information regarding these robberies 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 confidential.

According to the latest CompStat report, it was the 114th Precinct’s first robbery of 2025 after it reported five at the same time last year, as of Jan. 5.