If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again. And again.
Police are looking for an apparently bumbling thief who attempted to rob three Manhattan chain stores -- a Duane Reade, Cosi and Starbucks -- before he finally got lucky at a local CVS, after which he tried to hit up another Duane Reade and failed again.
The suspect is described as a white man between 35 and 45 years old, about 5 feet 7 to 6 feet tall and weighing around 200 pounds. He has been seen wearing a gray sports jacket, blue jeans, a black baseball cap and dark sunglasses.
In each robbery attempt, the suspect enters the store while covering his face with one hand and places the other hand beneath his shirt, pretending to have a weapon.
The suspect then approaches an employee at the counter and demands cash from the register. He flees on foot in an unknown direction.
All of the attempted robberies -- and the lone successful one -- happened in the evening hours over a 10-day period. The first attempt at a Duane Reade was Thursday, April 28, followed by an attempted robbery at Cosi on Broadway on April 30 and an attempted robbery at Starbucks on Seventh Avenue on Friday, May 6.
The suspect hit a CVS on Fifth Avenue on May 8, which was the only time out of five attempts he fled with cash. He attempted to rob a Duane Reade on Broadway later that day, but failed once again, police said.
It wasn't immediately clear what prevented the suspect from making off with cash from the four attempted robberies.
Anyone with information about the suspect or the robbery attempts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls are confidential.
