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    CRAIGSLIST-ROBBER IMPERSONATED COP AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTED UPPER WEST SIDE WOMAN, POLICE SAY

    June 15, 2017 | 9:10 AM - Updated on June 5, 2022 | 11:29 PM
    in CRIME, NEWS
    45

    Police say the man shown above impersonated an officer to commit a series of crimes in Manhattan, including robbing and sexually assaulting a woman on the Upper West Side after contacting his victims via Craigslist.

    Incident #1: On Sunday, February 19, 2017 at 1830 hours, at Columbus Avenue and West 63rd street, a 24-year-old female victim met an unidentified individual who responded to her Craigslist post to buy two cell phones. The male removed the cell phones from her while displaying a badge and forcibly touched the victim on her breast before departing in a white four door sedan.

    Incident #2: On Saturday, April 15, 2017 at approximately 1905 hours, in front of 200 Eastern Parkway, a 16-year-old male victim met the unidentified individual through Craigslist to sell him a cell phone, when the individual displayed a shield and told the victim that he is a police officer. The individual departed in a white four door sedan.

    Incident #3: On Saturday, June 03, 2017 at 1620 hours, at 2155 University Avenue, a 23-year-old male met the unidentified individual whom he met through Craigslist to sell a cell phone, when the individual displayed a shield and identified himself as a police officer. The male removed the victim’s cell phone and departed in a white four door sedan with New Jersey license plates.

    He is described as a male, Asian, 22-27 years old.

    https://www.westsiderag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/1504-17-city-wide-pattern-7FINAL.mp4

    Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).  The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

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    Please limit comments to 150 words and keep them civil and relevant to the article at hand. Comments are closed after six days. Our primary goal is to create a safe and respectful space where a broad spectrum of voices can be heard. We welcome diverse viewpoints and encourage readers to engage critically with one another’s ideas, but never at the expense of civility. Disagreement is expected—even encouraged—but it must be expressed with care and consideration. Comments that take cheap shots, escalate conflict, or veer into ideological warfare detract from the constructive spirit we aim to cultivate. A detailed statement on comments and WSR policy can be read here.

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    45 Comments
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago

    When people read the word “Asian”, they think Chinese / Japanese / Korean. This man clearly is not one of those, he appears Indian. I hope this creep is caught soon.

    0
    Reply
    Upper West Side Wally
    Upper West Side Wally
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    Just of the top of my head: Vietnamese, Laotian, Filipino, Cambodian, Indonesian (sigh…)

    0
    Reply
    deed
    deed
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    Indians are Asian…

    0
    Reply
    Sam
    Sam
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    UWSHebrew: People? Which people? All people but you? You’re not the only person who knows what Asian means. If you clarified the description for others, great, but consider that you’re assuming the rest of us don’t know what you know.

    0
    Reply
    geoff
    geoff
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Sam

    wow! only in america. an entire sub continent, overlooked, unseen, unconsidered.

    0
    Reply
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Sam

    Not everyone is as worldly and wise as you Sam. When a police bulletin states “Asian”, that is what the AVERAGE person thinks. Thanks for the unwarranted, vicious attack, you must be a peach to be around.

    0
    Reply
    EricaC
    EricaC
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    This is a good one, UWSHebrew; because you (and other “average” people) don’t know that India is part of Asia, we should apply another term in police announcements?

    I remember being mortified in high school when I hadn’t realized that India was in Southeast Asia. I do know our educational system is somewhat lacking, so maybe average people never get this far in learning geography,

    0
    Reply
    Sam
    Sam
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    UWSHebrew, you keep doing it: “When people read the word “Asian”, they think Chinese / Japanese / Korean.” Which people? “People who know less than I do”?

    Nobody viciously attacked you. What happened was, you assumed others are stupid and I pointed it out. Don’t exaggerate.

    0
    Reply
    Mark
    Mark
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    That was a “vicious” attack on you?
    Oh puhleeze..

    0
    Reply
    Mark
    Mark
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Mark

    One thing I am not is a snowflake.

    0
    Reply
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Mark

    I know what you are Mark.

    0
    Reply
    MaryDowns
    MaryDowns
    9 years ago

    I’m sure I’m not the first to notice, but if the white sedan in the clip is the robber’s, the video includes a side-long view of the license plate, with the second and third numbers being 53?

    0
    Reply
    David
    David
    9 years ago

    Indian is Asian. Can we all agree that UWSHebrew needs to be banned from this site? This person clearly only posts to get a rise out of people. I think we all have grown tired of his negative attitude.

    0
    Reply
    kaylord
    kaylord
    9 years ago
    Reply to  David

    Yes, please.

    0
    Reply
    Cato
    Cato
    9 years ago
    Reply to  David

    We can’t ban him. Without him we would never be able to know what *the* “average” person thinks. He’s the one who knows, so we need to keep him around to educate us.

    0
    Reply
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Cato

    I just gave my opinion on how the description of “Asian” on the police bulletin is not helpful in catching this person based on the photo and video of him that is provided. But if you take that opinion as a sign of extreme arrogance regarding what I think is your and other WSR readers lack of understanding, you are too focused on yourself, as I’m not addressing you. Just the wording in the police bulletin.

    0
    Reply
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago
    Reply to  David

    I second the motion!

    0
    Reply
    Mark
    Mark
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    I agree with you for the first time ever.

    0
    Reply
    GG
    GG
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Mark

    Geeez! Will one of you guys (or both) add a number or an initial or something to your name. This is getting ridiculous.

    Don’t you want to distinguish yourselves from each other? Otherwise what is the point.

    Just sayin

    0
    Reply
    OriginalMark
    OriginalMark
    9 years ago
    Reply to  GG

    I have been posting under “Mark” for a long time. Not sure who the new Mark is but I will change mine to OriginalMark.

    0
    Reply
    Mark
    Mark
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Mark

    For the record, that’s the other Mark.
    This Mark is not in favor of banning!

    0
    Reply
    EricaC
    EricaC
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Mark

    Let him speak. As is always the case, the more people speak, the clearer it is what they are. These situations will take care of themselves. To the extent something needs rebutting, rebut it. To the extent it is simply trolling, ignore it. Don’t ban.

    Free speech does not mean only speech that is pleasant or intelligent. Even hearing things that you disagree with or that offend you can teach you, help you refine your thinking, teach you to argue better.

    And most importantly – suppressing your opponent does not defeat him, it merely defers the battle. As we are seeing in spades today. So many people who are infuriated that they could not speak. Instead of confronting the wrongs, we have forced them to be hidden. Clearly, the time for that is past.

    0
    Reply
    Mark
    Mark
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Mark

    You’re welcome – but I’m the Mark you don’t like.

    0
    Reply
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Mark

    Thanks Mark 2.0 !

    0
    Reply
    Denton Taylor
    Denton Taylor
    9 years ago

    Strange. I moderate two different literature lists where we discuss literature of authors from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. We refer to this literature as ‘South Asian’ literature. We refer to Chinese/Korean etc people and literature as Asian. I understand that usage can be different elsewhere in the world, where the term East Asian is used.

    The car in the photo is a Crown Victoria with a police antenna visible on the trunk lid and New Jersey plates. I assume it was bought at a police auction.

    0
    Reply
    Paul RL
    Paul RL
    9 years ago

    I agree with UWSH’s comment above, and I don’t see what the fuss is about. Asia is the world’s largest continent and has many different regions that are home to many distinct ethnic groups. Describing someone simply as “Asian” when their ethnicity clearly points toward the Indian Subcontinent can be very misleading and detrimental to catching the suspect. It’s akin to describing someone simply as “American” or “Canadian.”

    0
    Reply
    Cat
    Cat
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Paul RL

    I UWSH’s comment reads, ‘This man clearly is not one of those, he appears Indian.’

    How is this man clearly Indian (based solely on this photo)?

    0
    Reply
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Cat

    Re-read your question which includes what you think is my quote. Do you see an error? I stated “appears Indian”. Not “clearly Indian”. He also appears Middle Eastern. But he is clearly NOT Japanese / Chinese / Korean, which was my point in the first place regarding the description on the police bulletin “Asian”.

    0
    Reply
    OriginalMark
    OriginalMark
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    UWSHebrew -it really isn’t a PC issue but rather a “fact” issue. I get that facts are not popular among the Right but it would be helpful if you would at least try to keep up (and man up a bit).

    0
    Reply
    OriginalMark
    OriginalMark
    9 years ago
    Reply to  OriginalMark

    It is a fact that China, Japan, and Korea are not the only Asian countries.
    You really must do better at keeping up.
    You certainly wouldn’t want people to think of conservatives as being ill-informed or poorly educated now, would you?

    0
    Reply
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago
    Reply to  OriginalMark

    Yes, it is a FACT that this man is not Japanese, Chinese, or Korean. Your attempt at emasculating me has failed, as I am quite the opposite in appearance of your Woody Allen stereotype Jew.

    0
    Reply
    Cat
    Cat
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    No, there is no error, and you have no idea what ethnicity he, and can’t say that he’s NOT Japanese / Chinese / Korean, based on a photo, so stop being so ridiculous. You accuse people of attacking you and then just continue to post more nonsense.

    0
    Reply
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Cat

    This is what happens when someone is too steeped in PC nonsense. Yes, I can say, with 100$ certainty, that he is not Japanese, Chinese, or Korean. It’s called common sense.

    0
    Reply
    Bruce Bernstein
    Bruce Bernstein
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Cat

    good point, Cat.

    0
    Reply
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago
    Reply to  Paul RL

    Thank you Paul RL for seeing the benign tone of my Asian comment. Unfortunately because I point out views that are contrary to many WSR readers (such as having a play that depicts a Trump look-alike being stabbed to death as unacceptable), I am vilified as someone with a “negative attitude”. For some WSR readers in particular, they are offended that because my screen name on here identifies me as Jewish, this makes my views ever so much worse, as I am supposed to be a “progessive”, “liberal”, Democrat, and I proudly strike out on all three!

    0
    Reply
    Mark
    Mark
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    Oh lordy – does the snowflakery ever end?

    0
    Reply
    GG
    GG
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    I don’t know about “progressive”, “liberal” or “Democrat”….

    how about a human being? Not everything is political, as we have seen these last few days.

    0
    Reply
    John
    John
    9 years ago

    Saw him at a Trump protest , are all the victims Republicain?

    0
    Reply
    Jim Demetrios
    Jim Demetrios
    9 years ago

    This low life human garbage is all over Craigslist. Beware!

    0
    Reply
    lynn
    lynn
    9 years ago

    Thumbs up to allie!

    0
    Reply
    Steve
    Steve
    9 years ago

    Everyone is too busy bantering back and forth.

    Why can’t they make the license plate by stopping the video and enhancing the rear plate???

    0
    Reply
    UWSHebrew
    UWSHebrew
    9 years ago

    That’s comparing apples and oranges, hysterical allie. Whenever that happened regarding Obama and hung in effigy, that was done by little groups of losers at a protest. As did your fellow leftists who hung BUSH in effigy! Can’t compare the two, no matter how much your NYU professors say you can. Any sitting POTUS, Democrat or Republican, who is mock-assassinated in a play, is anti-American traitorous filth.

    0
    Reply
    OriginalMark
    OriginalMark
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    Looks like someone is desperate for a safe space.

    0
    Reply
    Cat
    Cat
    9 years ago
    Reply to  UWSHebrew

    “Any sitting POTUS, Democrat or Republican, who is mock-assassinated in a play, is anti-American traitorous filth.”

    You said it, lol!

    0
    Reply
    BillyNYC
    BillyNYC
    9 years ago

    Tell the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers to send this to the lab to read the plate on the car and go get him.

    0
    Reply

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