Cops are looking for this suspect, who allegedly pulled out a handgun and robbed a convenience store on Hoyt Avenue South in Astoria last week. Photo courtesy of the NYPD
July 30, 2024 By Bill Parry
Police from the 114th Precinct in Astoria are looking for an armed robber who targeted a bodega near the Grand Central Parkway in broad daylight nearly two weeks ago.
The suspect entered the Noreen Grocery store at 29-24 Hoyt Ave. S. at around 3:15 p.m. on Sunday, July 21 and made a purchase. While at the register, he pulled out a black firearm and allegedly threatened a store employee while demanding money from the register, police said. The worker complied, handing the robber $600 in cash.
The perpetrator ran out of the convenience store and was last seen running eastbound on Hoyt Avenue South toward the Astoria Boulevard N/W subway station at 31st Street. The victim was not injured during the heist.
Investigators believe it is the same man who is wanted for an attempted armed robbery on the Upper West Side in Manhattan three days later. Police from the 24th Precinct reported that the suspect entered a smoke shop near Riverside Park at 2802 Broadway at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 24. Once inside, the suspect approached a 56-year-old store employee and pulled out a black handgun while demanding he hand over cash from the register, but when another customer walked into the smoke shop, the gunman took off empty-handed, according to an NYPD spokeswoman. He was last seen running off eastbound on West 108th Street. Neither the customer or the store worker were injured during the attempted robbery.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect and described him as having a medium complexion with a medium build. He wore dark sunglasses, a satin skull cap, black sneakers with yellow and white details, khaki cargo shorts, an orange T-shirt and a camouflage-colored crossbody tote bag.
Anyone with information regarding this 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 July 28, the 114th Precinct has reported 186 robberies so far in 2024, 30 more than the 156 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 19.2%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
