Cops Hunt East Village Burglar Who Burst Into Woman's Apartment

EAST VILLAGE, NY — Cops identified a suspect they believe forced his way into an East Village woman's apartment last week, the NYPD said Friday.

Cops said Tyler Lockett, 22, is the burglar who followed a 21-year-old woman into her apartment building and forced his way into her apartment July 26 about 1:45 a.m., police said.

The man told her to "shut up" and threw her to the ground, covering her mouth and keeping her from screaming, cops said.

During the break-in, the woman's roommate, 22, woke-up, police said. The man, who cops suspect is Lockett, then ran off towards 11th Street and First Avenue.

Cops released a photo of Lockett on Friday from an arrest in a Brooklyn break-in that happened January 25 in the 90th Precinct, which covers mostly Williamsburg.

In that break-in, he was arrested for forcing his way into a 23-year-old woman's apartment, locking the door, grabbing her purse and knocking her to the ground hurting her knees, police said.

Lockett is 5 feet, 5 inches tall and about 130 pounds with brown eyes and black hair, police said.

Police said he was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt and grey sweatpants.

Cops are offering a $2,500 award for information.

Anyone with information in regard to this home invasion robbery is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

All calls are strictly confidential.