Shoplifters Steal Vitamins, Menace Workers

Healthy Thieves Steal Hundreds of Dollars in Vitamins, Threaten Workers with Box Cutters 

Police are searching for three men in connection with the robbery of a Duane Reade in Chelsea. -Photo by NYPD

By Dan Gesslein 

Manhattan Voice 

June 21, 2023 

MANHATTAN - Cops are looking for a trio of shoplifters who menaced Duane Reade workers with a box cutter to make off with hundreds of dollars worth of vitamins.  

Police released surveillance video of the three suspects who allegedly robbed a Chelsea drug store down the block from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

At around 10:18 pm on June 12, three men dressed in dark colors entered the Duane Read at 333 7th Avenue in Chelsea and began removing items, cops said. The items taken are vitamin products. 

According to police, as the men tried to leave the store without paying they came across a store employee. Cops said one of the alleged shoplifters pulled out a boxcutter and threatened the worker. 

The men then left the store with the stolen items without incident. No one was injured. 

The items taken are vitamin products valued at $662. 

Police said all three suspects are males between the ages of 20 to 30. One suspect was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, a dark t-shirt with the word “Nike” across the chest with the swoosh logo in white.  

The second suspect was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt with gray writing across the chest. He wore a black face mask and a backpack. 

The last suspect was last seen wearing a dark blue hoodie and black shorts. 

Anyone with information in regard 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 CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. 

All calls are strictly confidential.