Police are searching for a brazen thief on a bike who they say has been grabbing cash from taxi drivers with their windows down in Manhattan.
Surveillance video released by the NYPD on Tuesday shows the alleged thief pedaling up to a stopped taxi with its windows lowered and snatching the money right out of a cabbie’s shirt pocket.
And the bike-riding robber seems to be on a roll. Police say he has robbed at least seven drivers in Manhattan since the end of June.
In the robbery captured on video at 18th Street and Park Avenue, the thief rolls up to the yellow cab and quickly grabs the money. He briefly struggles with the cabbie, causing a heap of bills to fly onto the pavement. He takes off and the cab driver can be seen kneeling on the ground to pick up the money as his cab, apparently left in drive, rolls away.
“It’s horrible,” one cabbie, Omar Ali, said.
No one was hurt in the robbery near 18th Street, but police say last month the robber punched a 46-year-old driver in the face before stealing $200.
In all, the robber has gotten away with more than $600 in cash, according to police.
