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Police Seek Armed Robber Targeting Women At Queens Laundromats

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are looking for an armed man who they said has been robbing women at laundromats in Queens.

The suspect, who is believed to be in his 20s, has struck once each of the last three days, police said.

In the first incident, police said the suspect robbed a 56-year-old woman of cash around 2:30 p.m. Sunday at a laundromat on Astoria Boulevard.

1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria Speaks With One Laundromat Owner

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The suspect also robbed a laundromat at 103rd Street off 37th Avenue in Corona  just before 3 a.m. Monday.

The owner of the 24-hour facility, Victor Mercado, told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria the 55-year-old woman who worked there opened the locked door for the robber because the man said his mother would soon come and do her wash.

Mercado said that the man then told the worker "Open the...register" before threatening her, saying "Open it up because if you don't open, I'm gonna shoot you, I have a gun."

The robber got away with $450 cash, but he left behind his fingerprints and a clear picture of himself on the surveillance cameras.

It matches the description given by the other laundry victims, including that of a 41-year-old woman at a 37th Avenue laundry facility around 6:15 a.m. Monday, police said.

There were no injuries.

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

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