WOODSIDE — A brazen pair of stick-up artists have been hitting gas stations and convenience stores across the borough — and in at least one case escaping in a distinctive minivan, the NYPD said.
The spree began May 11, when the duo entered a Woodside liquor store near the corner of Woodside Avenue and 69th Street at about 7 p.m. flashed a handgun and demanded cash, according to cops.
Four days later they struck in Astoria, seeking cash from a grocery store near the corner of Northern Boulevard and 48th Street around 7:45 p.m., police said.
Both of the suspects are described as six-foot Hispanic men weighing between 180 and 200 pounds, though cops said one has a tattoo on his left forearm. On June 7, the suspects took their act to Sunnyside, ripping off a convenience store near the corner of 43rd Street and Skillman Avenue at about 7 p.m., police said.
Three days later, their cross hairs were trained on a gas station in Queensboro Hill, which they knocked over at about 11 p.m., according to cops.
The team used the same modus operandi June 13, when they entered a beer store in Flushing along Northern Boulevard intending to drain it of money, the NYPD said.
On July 21, the thieving twosome was caught on camera after they entered a deli near the corner of Atlantic Avenue and 97th Street in Woodhaven around 9:20 p.m., police said.
Four days later, one of the pair was recorded on video after the two robbed an Elmhurst bodega near the corner of Grand and Van Horn streets around 4:30 p.m., police said. The duo fled in a dark-colored mini van with damage and different wheel rims on the passenger side of the vehicle.
Those with information should contact NYPD’s Crimestoppers by calling 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting its website at nypdcrimestoppers.com or texting 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577.
