At least five people were killed due to the criminal acts of various crews that operated independently but used similar strategies to rob patrons in bars and nightclubs in New York City. Before stealing their phones and wallets, the thieves poison the victims, sometimes using their digital banking information to drain their accounts.
Targeting Potential Victims
At a news conference on Thursday, Lt. Det. Dave Leonardi of the New York Police Department claimed that some of the victims had received a combination of cocaine, fentanyl, and lidocaine, with the latter drug being the one that rendered them unconscious. According to James Essig, chief of detectives for the NYPD, robberies have happened outside of the gay community.
Although there has been a noticeable anti-LGBTQ climate across the nation, there is still concern about potential targeting, according to Beverly Tillary, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, a group that supports LGBTQ communities, according to MSN report.
The Manhattan district attorney revealed on Thursday that one suspect had been charged with murder, even though many of the crimes are still unsolved.
Thieves Took Lives of their Victims
Although many victims come forward to accuse the thieves of robbing them, some cannot do so because they died from poisoning.
A chef named Nurbu Sherpa, 29, was discovered dead on the sidewalk in March after leaving a bar where he had been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. After leaving a Manhattan bar with some men, social worker Julio Ramirez, 25, passed away in a taxi the following month. His savings had been stolen, as was later discovered by family members, according to a source posted.
The townhouse where he was staying turned out to be the final resting place of John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant from Washington, D.C., whose money had been stolen from his bank account. He was captured on surveillance footage being supported by a group of men as he left a well-known club.
