By Charles Sweeney
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN — A bike-riding mugger victimized two women after stalking them for blocks, police reports said.
According to complaints filed at the 78th Precinct last week, two women described nearly identical ordeals involving what seems to police as the same crook stalking victims on a bicycle before robbing them of their cell phones and purses.
The two-wheeled mugger struck for the first time on Thursday, Nov. 6, when he followed his first victim for a few blocks before leaping off the bike he’d been riding and confronting a 30-year-old woman who described the attack to police from the 78th Precinct.
According to a report of the mugging, the mobile crook stalked his prey, then made his move for the woman’s cell phone after she’d turned down Carroll Street off Third Avenue.
The thief planted himself in her path and demanded, “Hand over the cell,“ according to reports. The victim then tried to resist and got a laceration to her hand in the struggle though she refused medical attention. Her injuries were described as not serious.
The victim described her attacker as a black male, approximately 30-35 years old, standing 5-feet-8 and weighing about 180 pounds with salt-and-pepper-colored hair. With no distinguishing marks or other extraordinary characteristics, police nonetheless circulated the description of the attacker supplied by the victim and were soon conducting a thorough canvass of the immediate surroundings, as well as outlying areas on the edge of the precinct’s boundaries.
Despite a widely-circulated description of the mobile mugger and a thorough canvass, the bike-riding thief struck again on the tony Plaza Street block at the corner of Prospect Park. The semi-circular street curving along the edge of the park is lined with high-end apartment high-rises, one of which reportedly at one time was the residence of the senior United States Senator from New York, Charles Schumer.
In the shadow of some of the borough’s finest housing later that afternoon, a 38-yerar-old woman strode along the northwest side of the street when a man on a bicycle sped up to her and shoved her to the ground.
Before she could regain her footing, the gray-haired thief grabbed her handbag, hopped back on his bicycle and rolled himself in the direction of Eighth Avenue. Despite her upending by the crook, the second victim reported no serious injuries.
Police said they are investigating the muggings, vigilantly searching for a suspect matching the descriptions given by both victims.
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© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net