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Man Pretended To Be Correction Officer As He Stole From Teen Girls, Police Say

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police were searching Sunday for a suspect who claimed he was a correction officer as he stole items from people on the street in Harlem and in Jamaica, Queens.

As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, it might be difficult to spot someone acting suspiciously on such a busy thoroughfare as 125th Street in Harlem. But police on Sunday were asking for help in finding the correction officer impostor.

The incidents happened between early May and this past Wednesday. The victims were all teenage girls or women, and police said the suspect sexually accosted one of them.

The thefts happened at the following times and locations:

• Around 6:10 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, the suspect came up to a 14-year-old girl at 124th Street and Mount Morris Park West and told her he wanted to inspect her bag. The suspect handed over her bag – containing a cellphone charger and a video game console system worth about $400 – and he walked away with it, police said.

• Around 4:10 p.m. Wednesday, May 31, the suspect came up to two girls, ages 13 and 15 – in front of 253 W. 125th St. and told them he was a correction officer and they were suspects in a past crime. The suspect had the girls follow him to 250 W. 127th St., where he took $23 from the older girl and a gold metal chain worth $500 from the older one, police said.

• Around 4:50 p.m. Friday, July 14, the suspect came up to an 18-year-old woman at 125th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard and told her he was a correction officer, police said. The suspect then made the woman follow him across the street, accosted her in a sexual manner, and took her wallet worth an estimated $157, police said. The woman was not injured.

• Around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, July 19, the suspect came up to a 13-year-old girl at Archer Avenue and 144th Street in Jamaica, Queens, and said he wanted to see her jewelry, police said. The girl handed over $17 and her jewelry – including a white metal ring worth about $600 – and the suspect walked off with it, police said.

Young women in Harlem were surprised at how brazen the suspect was, pulling off the crimes in broad daylight.

"That's completely crazy. That's scary also," said Startazia Griggs of Harlem, "that the young girls are actually falling for it, and then they're getting hurt by this man -- or whatever's happening to them."

"Maybe she was afraid," said Faith Sylvan of Ridgewood, Queens. "And she knew he was high authority, so she probably thought something could happen to her."

"You're alarmed that scares you! So a lot of young people don't know that you can ask an officer, you know, of the courts or of the law for ID just to verify," said vendor Vanda Jamison. "But it's important to know that you're allowed to ask someone for ID."

Some teens who spoke to CBS2 said they have their guard up.

"Ask for their badge, and if you feel like it's fake or uncomfortable, just walk away, because he has no reason to hold you there," said Treyala Robinson of the Upper East Side. "And you could either walk you could run you could go up to some random person and say, 'Excuse me ,he's bothering me and I don't know him.'"

The suspect was described as a black male in his 30s or 40s, standing 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds. Police have released a surveillance photo.

Harlem Correction Officer Impersonator
A surveillance image of a suspect who allegedly claimed he was a correction officer as he stole from teenage girls in Harlem and Queens. (Credit: NYPD)

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

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