The NYPD is asking the public’s help nabbing five young women wanted for a string of beatdown robberies in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The crew beat up two for-hire drivers, stealing an SUV from one of them, and pummeled a store clerk who tried to stop them from walking out with marijuana, according to cops.
After stealing the SUV, they used it as the getaway vehicle in their other crimes.
The women first struck 2 a.m. May 21 when they confronted a 44-year-old for-hire driver parked on Ralph Ave. near Pacific St. in Crown Heights, cops said.
As he waited for his next customer, four of the women got into his Toyota RAV4 and repeatedly punched him, police said.
When they demanded the driver’s car keys he tried in vain to run off but they continued to beat him, took the keys and drove off in his SUV, police said. Medics treated the victim at the scene.
Less than three hours later at 4:54 a.m. in Manhattan they victimized another for-hire driver, a 58-year-old man parked in his Toyota sedan on E. 88th St. near First Ave. on the Upper East Side.
Two of the women got into the car, beat the driver and stole his wallet before driving off in the RAV4 from Brooklyn. A third woman was driving the getaway SUV.
The victim suffered minor injuries and did not need medical attention.
Then at 6:40 p.m. the next day, the five women shoplifted marijuana from a shop on Myrtle Ave. near Central Ave. in Bushwick, police said. When a 20-year-old worker tried to stop them she was punched multiple times by all five women and robbed of her cellphone by the crew, police said.
The women then stole about $150 from behind the counter and took off in the stolen RAV4, which was found unoccupied by cops two days later on New York Ave. in Crown Heights.
Cops released surveillance images of the five suspects and are asking the public’s help identifying them and tracking them down.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.