Sept. 30, 2019. By Shane O’Brien
The NYPD is looking for two men who assaulted a motorist and stole his phone while impersonating undercover police officers in Astoria last month.
The incident took place near the intersection of Hoyt Avenue North and 26th Street at about 4:15 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24, according to the NYPD.
A 38-year-old victim left his car after he became involved in a verbal dispute with another male motorist and his passenger, who also got out of their car.
As the dispute escalated, the two men identified themselves as undercover cops and one of the suspects showed the victim a badge.
When the victim attempted to take a photo of their car’s licence plate, they slapped his phone out of his hand and punched him.
The two men then damaged the side view mirror of the victim’s car, stole his phone from where it had fallen on the ground and fled the scene in their car.
The victim was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in Queens where he was treated for his injuries and released.
Police describe the suspects as Hispanic men in their mid to late twenties. They both had facial hair and a medium build. The driver was last seen wearing a dark-colored t-shirt and blue jeans, while the passenger was last seen wearing a white t-shirt and jeans as well.
Anyone with information in regard to the identities of these males is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
All calls are strictly confidential.
7 Comments
Keep voting Democrat
Would put it past they were real cops seeing what they hire nowadays.
This crime and assault like so many in Astoria was on the local news channels days ago.
Crime has gone up in Astoria and the city officials are playing it down. Shootings, muggings , gangs in parks, brake ins etc it was getting better till they stopped “stop and frisc” now thugs feel safe carrying guns
These douche bags don’t even have registration or inspection sticker on their vehicle. Why not share the plate number so we can look for these losers?
Too many cars in NY with out of state plates. PA, FL, Colorado, California, etc. I would stop them all to verify where they live and the state that issued their licenses.
You can’t just stop cars for no reason. Do you have any idea how the Constitution works, at all?