Biking Bandit Goes On Phone Snatching Spree In Flushing: NYPD

FLUSHING, QUEENS -- A biking bandit has been rolling through Flushing and snatching up cell phones from unsuspecting locals all summer, police said.

Cops are searching for the teen, who they suspect has biked up behind at least 10 people in the neighborhood and snatched their phones before putting his feet to the pedals of a black, white and red Eurobike for a speedy getaway.

He is suspected to be behind a string of cell phone thefts reported as far back as late June and as recently as last Friday, police said.

Cops said the string of heists began the night of June 29, when the teen snatched a 27-year-old man's phone from his hands near Saull Street and Maple Ave.

Nearly identical nighttime heist was reported nearby on July 8, when the perp also made off with $100 stashed inside the woman's phone case, and again on July 20, when he knocked a 48-year-old woman to the ground after stealing her phone, police said.

The teen continued his late-night snatching spree with three more heists in the next two weeks over roughly a mile radius along or near Kissena Boulevard.

By August, he became more brazen, snatching cell phones from his speeding bicycle in broad daylight. He robbed three more people - two of them in the middle of the afternoon - within 10 days along Maple Avenue and Colden Street, authorities said.

On Wednesday, the NYPD released surveillance footage the teen bicycling away from his latest afternoon cell phone heist on Aug. 24 near Blossom Avenue and Saull Street.

Police estimate the perp to be between 16 and 18 years old. He is described as about 5-foot-1o and roughly 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black sneakers.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Lead photo via NYPD