Bronx T-Mobile store workers use merchandise security tags to help NYPD arrest thieves
Manhattan NY May 8 2022 Traceable electronic security tags on merchandise stolen from a Bronx cell phone store helped cops track down an armed robber after a wild chase Saturday on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, police said.
Two armed men ransacked a T-Mobile location on E. 149 St. near Union Ave. in Woodstock about 3:20 p.m., cops said.
One of the men fled on foot while the other drove off with the stolen goods in a gray BMW.
Quick-thinking store employees began tracking the stolen electronics through security tags the thieves overlooked, police said.
Aided by the store workers and the trackers, cops followed the trail to the Upper East Side, where they soon found the BMW.
When they tried to pull over the car at E. 96 St. and Third Ave., the driver hit the gas, ramming a police vehicle as he tried to escape.
The crook made it just three blocks east when responding officers stopped the BMW on the southbound FDR Drive at E. 96 St.
The suspect ditched the BMW, ran one block up the highway, and tossed something into the East River before cops put him under arrest.
One of the arresting officers injured his wrist during the struggle.
The robber’s name and charges against him were not immediately released. His partner in crime was still being sought late Saturday.
The NYPD’s Harbor Unit and Aviation Unit were searching for the object he threw in the water Saturday evening.
