Gunmen Try to Steal $30,000 Watch on Upper East Side

Moped Riding Gunmen Try to Steal Luxury Watch, Open Fire 

The NYPD is searching for four men who tried to rob a man of his $30,000 watch at gunpoint. -Photo by NYPD

By Dan Gesslein 

Manhattan Voice 

December 5, 2023 

MANHATTAN - Crooks on the Upper East Side tried to rob a man of his luxury watch and then opened fire when they couldn’t get the jewelry, the NYPD said. 

Police released dramatic surveillance video of the suspects holding a gun and demanding the luxury watch from the victim. 

At around 3:45 pm on December 2, a man was standing outside a building at 1291 3rd Avenue on the Upper East Side. Cops said four men walked up to him and tried to forcibly remove his $30,000 watch. 

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When they couldn’t yank the watch off the victim’s wrist, one of the robbers pulled out a gun and opened fire but missed. 

The robbers then hopped on two dark colored mopeds and drove off eastbound on East 74th Street. No injuries were reported. 

The NYPD released the surveillance video of the suspects. All were dressed in black jackets. Two of the suspects wore face masks. The other two wore black balaclava masks. 

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.