A major manhunt is underway for a “Haggler After Midnight” after a knife-wielding robber forces victims to negotiate what he can steal, according to police.
The New York Police Department revealed the suspect has targeted at least 11 victims in Brooklyn and Queens since early November and preys for victims who are generally Hispanic men between and 40 on their way home from work in the early hours.
Deputy Chief John Mastronardi at the department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit said the burglar bizarrely negotiates in both English and Spanish. “He’s got a strange M.O. – he likes to haggle with his victims, so we call him the ‘Haggler After Midnight,’” he said. “Often times if a victim produces a property that they’re going to give up, he says ‘No, no, no, I don’t want that, want that.’ So he gets to choose.”
According to officers, the mugger is mostly interested in money and electronics and began targeting people on November 7. In each of the scary attacks, he approaches on a blue or dark motorbike and threatens victims with a knife before stealing their phones, jewellery, and other valuables. On different occassions, the suspect either asks for directions or asks where the worker is based.
His most recent attack was on December 10 and invovled him putting a knife to the throat of a victim. “In the last [incident], the male approached one of our victims and put a knife to his throat,” the detective said. “The emotional trauma, the fear that it creates and just innocent individuals going home from work being targeted.” None of the victims have been injured, with a manhunt underway for the suspect.
It comes after a 66 year old man has been critically injured after he was attacked in his house by two crooks masquerading as Amazon delivery guys. George “Dirk” Hardison, opened the door at his Savannah home on Saturday morning, lured by the sight of what seemed to be Amazon uniforms and expecting a package.
Instead, he was brutally assaulted as the men barged in and ferociously beat him with a sledgehammer, in a sickening onslaught that lasted nearly eight agonising minutes, according to WTOC. The spine-chilling episode was captured on video, showing Dirk’s desperate pleas for help.
Neighbours who rushed to his aid found him in a horrific state, drenched in blood with severe head wounds. He was immediately transported to the hospital, where doctors had to apply 14 staples to his head. The assailants fled with a meagre £40, reports the Mirror US. With the culprits still at large, described as two black males in their 20s with medium brown skin tones, detectives are urging anyone with information to come forward.
Get email updates with the day’s biggest stories
