The WRBA and the police are looking fo this man who stole a package from outside a house in Woodhaven. Although the suspect appears to have one arm, there has been speculation that this could be trick to throw police off track in their search. Photo courtesy of WRBA.
The Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association (WRBA) is seeking help in catching a suspect who stole a package from outside a house in the vicinity of 94th Street and 86th Avenue in Woodhaven. A surveillance camera that recorded the crime shows a man who appears to have one arm, open the gate, walk up to the porch and steal the package.
Late in the afternoon of Monday, July 23, the United Parcel Service (UPS) delivered a package to the residence and left it on the porch. Within two minutes the suspect pulled over across the street. The driver waited seven minutes before he backed up his vehicle, exited, opened the gate and took the package.
Ed Wendell, president of the WRBA, said that they are not currently working with the 102nd Precinct on this investigation but the WRBA does keep in fairly regular contact with the officers there. He hopes that the WRBA can help police catch the culprit.
“As soon as we saw that, we knew we had to do something,” he said. “We know how busy our police officers at the precinct are, so this is a case, we can actually help spread the word.”
Wendell said that the resident who was robbed brought this video to their attention. “It’s a clear-cut case of a robbery, and we wanted to help,” he said.
The surveillance footage showed a man with one arm commit the robbery but Wendell is not 100 percent convinced the suspect actually has one arm. He does not rule out the possibility the suspect may have cleverly tucked his arm into his shirt to throw police off his track.
“When you look at the video, it kind of does look like he might have tucked his arm into his shirt,” he said. “That’s what I thought at first, but I no longer feel that way,” he added. “In the one photograph you can actually see the white goes through his shirt where the arm was. I do believe he has one arm. Plus, the way he opened the gate… I think he does have one arm.”
Although the number of arms the suspect has remains a mystery, his face is not. “In this case I hope it will play a very big role in capturing the culprit,” said Wendell. “You get a decent look at the guy’s face and you see his vehicle so I hope someone out there will see him and recognize him.”
Wendell hopes the attention will make the suspect turn himself in. “The best ending would be if this guy sees his face plastered all over the place and says, ‘I think I’m better off turning myself in.’” Wendell added that if he turned himself in, the law would be much easier on him and restated, “My hope is that someone like that turns himself in so that they can get help.”
The surveillance video is available online at bit.ly/ PackageTheft.
If you have any information that could help solve this crime, please contact the WRBA at (718) 296-3737 or email info@woodhaven-nyc.org. You may also report information about this crime to the 102nd Precinct at (718) 805-3207.
By Natalia Kozikowska
