NEW YORK – An NYPD officer chased a suspected sunglasses thief on horseback in Times Square over the weekend, a bizarre scene that, to everyone’s benefit, was caught on the officer’s body camera.
It all started when a 60-year-old vendor near West 40th Street and Seventh Avenue told the horseback cop that seven pairs of sunglasses had been stolen around 6:45 p.m. Saturday.
The victim confronted the 34-year-old suspect, who produced a piece of broken glass and waved it in his direction in a threatening manner, police said in sharing the experience Tuesday.
The suspect fled the area. The NYPD’s camera footage begins with the officer speaking to the man, who is wearing a black hoodie and a red backpack. The video has no sound, so it’s not clear what happened.
But we quickly get the idea, because the suspect turns around and starts running from the cop.
The officer gives chase, galloping over the sewer grates and then down the street in the opposite direction as the cars stop.
The suspect ended up being arrested and now faces charges of robbery, threats and criminal possession of a weapon.
New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell praised the arrest in a tweet and said, “There was no chance this robbery suspect could outrun our 10-foot cop riding Samson!”
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