Feb. 25, 2016 By Michael Florio
A knife-wielding crook has robbed four stores along Broadway since last week.
The suspect struck five times since Feb. 16, including twice on Tuesday afternoon, according to 114th Precinct Commanding Officer Captain Peter Fortune. Each incident occurred on Broadway roughly between 21st Street and 29th Street.
The thief struck a cleaners located at 29-09 Broadway, R & M Sporting Goods located at 23-09 Broadway, a pizzeria located at 21-07 Broadway and twice hit the Family Market, located at 29-15 Broadway, Fortune said.
Following one of Tuesday’s incidents he was seen running northbound on 21st Street.
“We don’t know if he lives over there or near Ravenswood,” Fortune said.
The suspect is described as a white male that is approximately 20-years-old.
He was last scene wearing a black Free Mason baseball cap with a white logo, a black waist length jacket, a red hooded sweater, dark blue jeans and gray boots. He was carrying a black knapsack with a combination lock attached. He had a gray and black scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face, according to police.
Fortune discussed these incidents at the precinct’s community affairs meeting on Tuesday night, stating that there will be heavier police presence along Broadway as a result.
The precinct will have officers stationed along Broadway around the clock.
“You will see a constant presence out on Broadway,” Fortune said.
The precinct has made fliers with a $2,500 reward for information regarding the suspect. The flier contains photos taken from a surveillance video from one of Tuesday’s incidents.
Fortune plans to plaster these all along Broadway.
“We are going to work on this on a daily basis until we catch this guy,” Fortune said. “We want to put him in jail and keep him there.”