‘Haggler After Midnight,' Who Negotiates What He’ll Steal from Victims, Sought by New York City Police

A thief who bargains with his victims over their property is being sought after by police in New York City. 

The male suspect has been coined the “Haggler after Midnight” by police after nearly a dozen reported robberies in Brooklyn and Queens where he “negotiates with his victims,” the New York Police Department announced in a news release.

“A robber has struck multiple times in Brooklyn and Queens, targeting people as they return home,” the NYPD wrote on Instagram, citing NBC 4 New York for more details on the case. 

The outlet stated in a video accompanying the release that police said the suspect is armed with a knife and getting “more violent with each attack.” He also has specific targets of Hispanic males aged 20— 40, all returning home after their afternoon shifts at work. 

Deputy Chief John Mastronardi told NBC 4 New York, “All the victims are Hispanic males. And what we have is one male, often on a moped, targeting Hispanic males after midnight.” He added that the robber was also seen on a “black and blue motorized scooter” and a bicycle.

“He asked [one victim] if he was a construction worker, which we find very odd,” Mastronardi continued. “In the last incident, the male approached one of our victims and put a knife to his throat, removing his property.”

Surveillance footage obtained by NBC 4 New York shows the suspect to be a white male, wearing a black hooded jacket with a white logo at the chest and a black balaclava. 

Police have reported 11 robberies over the last couple of months and shared that the suspect “negotiates with his victims in English and Spanish.” The NYPD’s Crimes Against Persons detectives unit is investigating the case.

“The emotional trauma, the fear that it creates and it’s just innocent individuals going home from work, being targeted, more bracing more bold,” Mastronardi said, per NBC 4 New York.

“He’s got a strange [motive] definitely, haggling with his victims … so often [in these cases] the victim produces a property that they’re going to give up. [The suspect] often says, ‘No, no, I don’t want that, I want that.’ So he’ll choose,” he explained. 

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The “Haggler after Midnight” is “typically after cash or electronics,” police shared with NBC 4 New York. 

An award is being offered to help find the suspect and lead to his arrest, per the outlet.