Police are looking for a man suspected of trying to steal a cellphone from an 11-year-old girl as she walked to school in Queens last week.
The victim was walking to school at about 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 20 in the vicinity of Ditmars Boulevard and 28th Street when the suspect walked up to her and tried to steal her cellphone, police said.
The girl pulled the phone back and began to scream before running away, police said. The suspect fled the scene. No injuries were reported.
Parents in the neighborhood, including Geoff Burns, were concerned.
"Luckily he's only 6, so he certainly doesn't have an iPhone yet," Burns said of his son. "But it is something that I'd be concerned about as a parent."
Others were surprised that such a crime -- against a child, no less -- would occur in what they considered a family-friendly neighborhood.
"I always thought we lived in a safe neighborhood, but someone attacking an 11-year-old? That's very sad," said Astoria resident Sandy Anagnostou.
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The suspect was captured on surveillance video and police have released a sketch of the man. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
