Stylish Woman Shoplifter Steals from Flatiron Cosmetics Store, Assaults Employee, Flees
On a sunny, well-lit Tuesday morning in January, a lady bandit was ready for her closeup.
Chelsea /
| 10 Feb 2025 | 02:52
A stylishly dressed woman stole cosmetics from a Chelsea shop, cops said, and when confronted, assaulted a store employee. (
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At its best—which is the same as saying at its worst—crime is an equal opportunity employer.
Take the stylish woman bandit of Flatiron, for example, who on Jan. 21, at approximately 11:15 a.m., inside the Blue Mercury cosmetics shop at 865 Broadway, “removed store merchandise from a shelf” and tried to depart with it without paying—which is to say shoplifting, or burglary.
Apparently, the larcenist was less slick than she imagined, or perhaps she was merely brazen, for when she was confronted by a 38-year-old female employee, a physical altercation ensued, with the handsy shoplifter fleeing on foot to parts unknown. While her victim refused attention on the scene, the story doesn’t end there.
Blue Mercury called the cops, officers from the 13th Precinct arrived, and though it took some time, a couple of weeks later NYPD released a photo of the suspect, mouth agape with half her face glowing in the morning sun.
Compared with most police wanted photos—the vast majority of which are of suspected male criminals taken in less-than-ideal conditions—this picture is quite clear.
The suspect, a light-skinned woman likely in her 40s or 50s, appears startled, or agitated, her mouth agape with half her face, and the skin of her exposed upper chest, glowing in the bright morning sun. She has a sizable mole above the right side of her upper lip and her sandy blonde hair is pulled back and partly covered by a hood or other head covering.
If not strictly fashionable, she is surely stylish in a bohemian Manhattan manner, wearing a black scarf, a jacket with a black shaggy fur-like trim, and a satin maroon corset-like top or dress underneath a bright red blouse or light jacket.
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 crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on X @NYPDTips.All calls are strictly confidential.