A pair of moped-riding bandits robbed two Brooklyn bar hoppers at gunpoint — the latest in a crime spree centering on the two-wheeled getaway vehicles, cops and victims said Friday.
A 32-year-old actor and her 29-year-old friend were strolling from Twins Lounge to Ponyboy bar in Greenpoint at around 11:20 p.m. Thursday when a man wearing a ski mask hopped off the back of the moped and pulled a gun from his waistband, according to the sources.
He pointed the weapon towards the 29-year-old’s chest and demanded his watch then snatched the 32-year-old’s purse, according to cops and the victim.
The crook then climbed back on the moped and his driver sped off down Manhattan Avenue near Norman Avenue.
“It was very quick, but it was obviously super rattling. I’ve lived in the area for over seven years now, and I’ve never felt unsafe,” said the 32-year-old victim, who asked not to be named out of concern for her safety.
She grew up in Venezuela and said she could tell the bandits hailed from her homeland “based on their accent.”
“It’s pretty insane for this to be happening here,” she said.
“My family left Venezuela because crime like that is very common there, and they just didn’t want us growing up in that kind of like, like lack of safety.”
The incident comes after a pair of thieves on mopeds stormed the popular Williamsburg Chinese restaurant Birds of a Feather and robbed three diners at gunpoint earlier this week.
On Wednesday, a robber pointed a gun at a Canadian man’s head and snatched his $40,000 Rolex watch in the heart of Greenwich Village before fleeing on a moped.
On June 18, two gun-toting, moped-riding robbers also swiped a man’s $100,000 watch outside the Manhattan hotspot Carbone, according to cops.
Police said Friday the Greenpoint robbery didn’t appear to be connected to past moped thefts.
The 29-year-old victim, who also asked not to be named, said they were likely targeted because the crooks spotted his pricey timepiece.
“I don’t think it was random,” he said.
“Like they saw I was wearing a very expensive watch from afar. Or someone told them.”
Ultimately, the 32-year-old victim said she got back her iPhone after using the Find my iPhone app to trace it back to a bar where the thieves had tossed it.
She said police officers she reported the crime to later told her moped-centric robberies were on the rise.
“They were like, yeah, unfortunately, like, it has been happening,” she said.
Cops took her around the neighborhood in search of the robbers, she said.
Back at the station, she asked an officer for advice.
“[I asked] If you had kids who lived in this neighborhood, what would you tell them?” she said.
“And one of them literally said, leave New York.’”
