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Police Seek Thief Who Stole Phones, iPads From Women On Subway

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police were searching Wednesday for a suspect who stole smart phones and iPads from subway passengers in Brooklyn and Queens between mid-November and last week.

The suspect simply snatched away the items in three incidents, but forcibly grabbed it away in a fourth and punched his victim in the face in the fifth. Many of the incidents happened in broad daylight, and all the victims were girls or women under the age of 30.

In the first incident, around 6:25 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 16, the man snatched an iPad from a 26-year-old woman on the inbound E train, as the train doors opened at the 75th Avenue station in Forest Hills, Queens.

In the second, around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 21, the man forcibly grabbed away an iPhone from a 19-year-old woman as she boarded an inbound E train at the Forest Hills-71st Avenue stop in Queens.

In the third, at 9:42 p.m. the same day, the suspect snatched a cell phone from a 28-year-old woman as she got on the inbound F train at the Jay Street-MetroTech station in downtown Brooklyn.

In the fourth, at 12:20 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9, the man snatched a cell phone from a 28-year-old woman on an inbound R train at the 65th Street-Broadway station in Woodside, Queens.

And in the fifth, at an unspecified time on Tuesday, Dec. 11, he punched a 16-year-old girl in the face and as she got off the R train at the 67th Avenue station in Forest Hills, Queens, and took her cell phone as she walked up the stairs.

The suspect is described as a black male between the ages of 25 and 30, standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 180 to 190 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers, at (800) 577-TIPS, submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Web site, or texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577.

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