The police are searching for a man who showed a fake police badge to a subway rider at a station in Manhattan and convinced him to hand over his cellphone.
The robbery took place around 8 p.m. on Jan. 13 at the entrance of a station on 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue, police said. The thief allegedly approached the rider, showed him the fake badge and then asked the man to show him identification and hand over his cellphone.
After the victim complied, the thief told him to swipe his MetroCard and pass through the turnstile, at which point the thief fled with the man's phone.
Surveillance video captured the two men entering the station and talking. The thief is the man on the left.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or submit tips by logging onto WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.
