CitiBike E-Bike Gang Marauds Manhattan; Subway Fatality at Union Square

There’s a new robbery gang in town. Unsurprisingly, the gang chose CitiBike e-bikes to maraud Manhattan on Monday March 17, and steal the headphones off at least seven people’s heads: five women, two men.

Because CitiBike e-bikes—which can travel 20 mph with no physical effort—are easily stolen and can be checked out by means which leave no record of their actual user, NYPD is asking for help in ascertaining the identity and whereabouts of the perpetrators.

The e-bike rampage began in the West Village, and continued in Harlem, Central Park and the Upper East Side. The likelihood that such a geographically wide-ranging crime spree could have occurred on pedal bicycles is remote.

In all seven incidents, no injuries were reported and the perpetrators fled to “parts unknown.” The mode of robbery was repeated in all subsequent incidents. Details are as follows:

Incident #1 (6th Precinct): At approximately 4:15 p.m., a group of unidentified individuals on e-bikes approached a 31-year-old female in front of 1 Jane Street, at the corner of Greenwich Avenue, and “snatched headphones from the victim’s head.”

Incident #2 (6th Precinct): At approximately 4:30 p.m, the gang victimized a 26-year-old female near W. 14th Street and West Street.

Incident #3 (28 Precinct): At approximately 5:50 p.m, the e-bikers victimized a 41-year-old male near W. 124th St. and Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard (7th Avenue). Noting the 80-minute time between these incidents, it’s unclear if they committed more than have been reported.

Incident #4 (28 Precinct): At approximately 6:20 p.m., the headphone snatchers victimized a 33-year-old female near W. 119th Street and Manhattan Avenue—an intersection that includes a Police Athletic League center and the P.S. 180 athletic field.

Incident #5 (Central Park Precinct): At approximately 6:40 p.m. a 22-year-old female was victimized near W. 103rd Street and West Drive.

Incident # 6 (19 Precinct): At approximately 6:50 p.m., a 27-year-old woman was victimized near E. 73rd Street and Third Avenue.

Incident #7 (19 Precinct): At approximately 7 p.m, a 31-year-old man was victimized near E. 81st Street and Third Avenue.

Photos obtained from incidents #2 and #3 show multiple black males, likely in their teens or twenties, riding CitiBike e-bikes.

Anyone with information regarding these incidents is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, in 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.

Subway Fatality at Union Square

On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at approximately 7:45 a.m. police responded to a 911 call of “an aided male” at the 14th Street Union Square subway station in the confines of the 13th Precinct / Transit District 4. Upon arrival, police observed an unconscious and unresponsive man in critical condition. EMS responded to the location and pronounced the male deceased on scene. At press time, the investigation is active and ongoing.