June 3 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Cops are looking for a man who choked a six-year-old girl during a robbery where he stole her and her sister’s gold necklaces in Brooklyn. The necklaces were birthday gifts they received from their mother.
Police have released images of the suspect, saying he approached a girl, 14, and her little sister at their apartment building near Eastern Parkway and Ralph Avenue in Crown Heights on Wednesday, May 29.
The incident
The 14-year-old girl told Eyewitness News that she was walking her six-year-old sister home from school when the man appeared behind them and asked them to hand over their necklaces. “The man grabbed me by the neck and then – my sister looked and she started getting scared. I didn’t have time…I couldn’t react. I only looked at my sister and she was screaming,” said the older girl.
Police said that the man then went on to choke the younger girl with one hand and pulled off her necklace with the other. He also snatched the older girl’s jewellery and then fled the scene.
Both the girls were rushed to the Maimonides Medical Center. They were listed in stable condition.
The girls said the suspect followed them home from school, right behind them. He followed them through their building’s front door and cornered them in a tight lobby.
At the time, the children’s mother was working. She said she is relieved the man did not abduct the girls. “I’m very worried, because I got to call my daughter every time she goes out of school to make sure her safety is good,” she said.
Police believe that the suspect is between 25 and 40 years of age. He is reportedly about 5 feet 8 inches tall, and had dark hair tied into a ponytail. At the time of the incident, the suspect wore a white shirt and carried a Target shopping bag. According to police, he later wore a grey sweatshirt over his t-shirt after pulling it out of his bag.
Anyone with information on the incident has been urged to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline