Two young-looking crooks robbed a pair of Central Park-goers in a late Tuesday heist – less than 24 hours after three teens were busted in a similar stick-up, cops said.
Investigators are probing whether the two incidents are linked to a larger pattern of heists within the park – possibly committed by migrants, law enforcement sources said.
The thieving duo approached two 20-year-old men at West 62nd Street and the West Drive around 10:40 p.m. and snatched up their jewelry, hat and vape pen, cops and sources said.
No injuries were reported during the robbery, cops said.
The suspects, who appeared to be in their teens, then ran off and were still on the loose Wednesday.
The hold-up happened just a day after three teen boys, 14, 16 and 17, were busted in the robbery of three other male victims, 15, 21 and 35 inside the iconic greenspace, authorities said.
The three male victims were near the park’s Grand Army Plaza at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue when four young suspects approached them around 1 a.m., cops said.
One of the boys gestured as if he had a gun before his accomplices ripped off the victims’ AirPods and jewelry, cops and sources said.
One of the crooks managed to get away after the stickup, but the other three soon landed in cuffs, police said.
They were each charged as adults with second-degree robbery, a felony, cops said.
While police have not officially confirmed a link to any other incidents in the park, law enforcement sources say investigators are probing whether both crimes are connected to at least five other robberies in the park – dating back to June 27.
Investigators also believe the crimes have a “migrant nexus,” the sources said.
In one of those incidents from Aug. 1, a gang of up to 20 people, some believed to be as young as 8, surrounded and robbed 37-year-old software developer Julian De Flandres as he sat on a bench near Wollman Rink.
In an apparently unrelated incident around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, an 82-year-old woman was walking along the reservoir path at East 95th Street and East Drive when a much younger menace snarled, “You shouldn’t be here” as he jogged by, cops said.
He then shoved her to the ground and kept running, police said.
The victim was taken to the Central Park Precinct, where EMS workers treated her for minor injuries to her nose, elbow and knee, cops said.
The attacker has not been caught.
The Post revealed last week that both robberies and assaults are skyrocketing in Central Park.
The park has seen a 222% spike in the number of robberies reported so far in 2024, compared to the same point in 2023, NYPD data show.
The 29 incidents reported so far this year already surpasses the total number reported in 2019, according to the data.
Felonious assaults have jumped 100%, doubling from five to 10, and are up from seven in all of 2019, the data reveal.
