Cops are probing a rash of wolfpack-style robberies in which gangs of up to 27 youths rush into Manhattan stores, overwhelm workers and dash out with all the loot they can snatch, police sources said.
The spree began in January and has hit some 35 grocery stores, video-game outlets and well-known shops such as Coach, Victoria’s Secret and French Connection.
“They rush in and grab whatever they can get,” said one investigator working on the case. “They take whatever they can hold in their hands or fit in their pockets and they rush out. They’re only in there for seconds.”
Cops want to find out if the same gang is behind the robbery spree or if the rash of mob robberies marks the comeback of an old type of group theft popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s called boosting.
The cops also are looking into a possible connection to the Crips or the Bloods street gangs, police sources said.
The spree has targeted stores in Midtown and points on the island further south.
The robberies the cops are probing range from epic raids with gangs of nearly 30 thugs to one solo attack in which a particularly brazen thief tried the tactic on his own, police sources said.
The size of most of the packs ranges from four to 12 participants. The suspects are both males and females in their teens and 20s.
Cops said that when gang members run into a store en masse, they stun and confuse store workers, allowing the thieves to scoop up items unimpeded. Their favorite loot includes DVDs, expensive clothing, video games, prepaid phone cards, perfume and cosmetics.
The raiders then run out of the store as quickly as they came in, leaving the people who witnessed the lightning-strike rip-offs shocked but unhurt. In fact, cops said, no one has been hurt in any of the thefts.
One of the most shocking robberies happened in January, when 20 individuals robbed the Broadway location of the cosmetics store Sephora – then ran over to another Sephora on 34th Street and robbed it 30 minutes later.
The only time anyone has been captured in one of these attacks was on March 2, when eight people were busted after trying to rob the East 57th Street watch store Piaget. Police are still trying to determine if that case is connected to the other robberies.
Yesterday, cops said they are also focusing on being ready to pounce if and when another of these types of robberies happens.
“We have a robust tactical-response plan,” said a department spokesperson.
Here are som of the notable shops hit in the robbery spree:
1. Victoria’s Secret: 115 5th Ave., 100 W.32nd St.
2. Coach: 342 Madison Ave.; 79 5th Ave.
3. French Connections: 435 West Broadway
4. Sephora: 34th Street, Broadway
5. Ann Taylor: 770 Broadway
6. Piaget: 40 E. 57th St.