String of iPhone thefts preceded killing

The perpetrators of an alleged robbery that ended with Riverdalian Hwang Yang lying facedown on West 232nd Street, dying from a bullet wound to the chest, appear to have followed a modus operandi that has become common for robberies in the Riverdale/Kingsbridge area.

A mugger approaches a victim, gun in hand and demands property — often an iPhone — before grabbing the cell phone and whatever valuables he or she can take quickly, and flees to a getaway vehicle waiting nearby.

Capt. Kevin Burke, commander of the 50th Precinct, said on Tuesday that last week’s incident was unique in its violence, but it has police determined to combat the muggings.

“It’s time to clamp down on the robberies,” Capt. Burke said. “Riverdale is still a very safe neighborhood; this is an isolated event, definitely out of the ordinary … but we’re trying our best to get this individual or individuals off the street.”

A police source told The Riverdale Press on Thursday that while police have previously arrested people in connection to similar robberies, the getaway vehicle used in Mr. Yang’s killing did not match those of any of the mugging crews police have been following.

Residents near the Cambridge Avenue and West 232nd Street intersection — which runs along the northern border of Ewen Park — said they have long avoided the park for fear of being robbed.

“That’s been a concern for a long time; I don’t go there when it’s dark. I don’t know anyone who does,” said Jean Porterfield, who lives on Cambridge Avenue.

But police said that the park is only the focus of few robbery complaints. The most recent Ewen Park robbery arrest came in September, when police booked Donte Smiley, then 18, for snatching a gold chain off another man’s neck.

“Once in a while, Ewen Park comes up … once in a while there are robberies. We get calls to the basketball court in that area, for disorderly kids in the area, or they’re hanging out drinking and stuff like that in the abandoned property [at the northeast corner of the park],” a police source said.

While robberies in the 50th Precinct have been down recently — there were 10 reported in the four weeks prior to April 8, compared to 11 during the same period last year — police said nearly all have been for electronics and many have involved crews of thieves driving the streets in search of iPhones. 

On March 16, a 21-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman told police they were robbed at around 2:30 a.m., near the intersection of Post Road and West 254th Street.

The victims said they were walking on West 254th Street when they noticed a Honda pass by, circle around and approach again. Two men exited the car and approached the victims while the driver remained in the car, police said.

Police said both suspects displayed guns and one said, “Give me everything you got.” The victims reported handing over two iPhones, an iPod and a wallet.

Closer to the spot where Mr. Yang was killed, a 24-year-old man was robbed in similar fashion while walking home from Manhattan College at around 9:40 p.m. on March 8, near the northwest corner of Greystone Avenue and Manhattan College Parkway.

According to a Manhattan College Security Advisory e-mail, a gun-wielding man wearing a red handkerchief approached the victim from behind and tapped him on his shoulder. 

The assailant said, “Give me everything,” according to police. When the victim failed to comply he was punched in the face several times.

The suspect fled in a vehicle, northbound on Tibbett Avenue. 

Both cases remain open and police said solving Mr. Yang’s murder will involve similar barriers in terms of producing suspects.

“It’s going to be a challenging case to solve. It’s kind of an isolated area, residential and no surveillance [video]. Nobody was on the street at the time,” Capt. Burke said.