Might be Hell to Pay for Trying to Rob Hellgate Post Office
Cops have released a surveillance photo of suspect that they say is wanted for robbing a US Post Office in East Harlem on East 110th Street.
It takes a special kind of recklessness, or desperation, to rob a post office—not least because once you do so, those are federal charges.
Add a gun to the mix, the anger of the post office workers, and depending on the nature of heist, the parcels, letters and postcards that might not reach their destination. While the perpetrator probably has not risen to Public Enemy #1 even on the UES, he’s most likely persona non grata in the neighborhood.
The larcenous stickup artist who held up the US Post Office Hellgate Station, at 153 E. 110th St., between Lexington and Third avenues, is being sought for armed robbery, and the NYPD is seeking the public’s help in identifying him.
The facts as they are presently known are as follows:
On Friday, Jan. 10, at approximately 6:15 p.m., within the confines of the 23rd Precinct, an unidentified male entered an open area of the Hellgate Station Post Office.
The office’s regular weekday hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. so it’s likely the perpetrator hoped to commit his crimes with a minimum of witnesses.
To that end, the suspect displayed a gun, demanded money and struck a 51-year-old female employee in the head with the firearm, a form of attack popularly known as pistol-whipping.
Why the would-be robber believed this would further his criminal goals is unclear, but this act of violence against a federal employee failed: No property was removed from the post office, and the hale postal worker suffered only minor injuries and refused medical attention.
The suspect is described as a male with a dark complexion, dressed in a black hoodie, a black mask, black gloves with blue markings, black Nike sweatpants and black sneakers.
He fled westbound on 110th Street on a red-and-white (or silver) mountain-type bicycle with flat bars, disc brakes, flat black pedals without toe clips, and a silver front reflector mounted near the stem. He is also seen carrying what appears to be a red-and-white Target shopping bag.
Anyone with information regarding 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 https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X @NYPDTips.