An elderly woman admiring a festive Bergdorf Goodman holiday window display in Midtown was pickpocketed by a brazen grinch with a long rap sheet, cops said Monday.
Elijah Gay, 23, snuck up behind a 77-year-old woman on Sunday and allegedly swiped her wallet as she gazed at the holiday window display around 2:41 p.m. on Fifth Ave. and West 57th St., police sources said.
Workers at the high-end clothing store tipped off cops that someone appeared to be casing people outside the building, cops said. Officers at the scene then saw Gay allegedly pickpocket a 79-year-old woman around 3:45 p.m., cops said. The officers followed Gay into a nearby train station on West 57th St. and Sixth Ave., where they took Gay into custody.
Police recovered the 79-year-old victim’s wallet, which contained two Chase and two American Express credit cards, according to court documents.
Cops also recovered another wallet that belonged to the 77-year-old woman containing $1 and an Electronic Benefit Transfer card, court documents and sources said.
Gay, who lives in Brooklyn, was charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property. He has 12 prior arrests, including assault, and was on probation for grand larceny, court documents show. In February, Gay and another accomplice allegedly bought over $1,000 worth of goods using counterfeit cash at a Snipes sneaker store on Kings Highway and E. Fifth St. in Midwood, sources said.
At Gay’s Monday arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court, prosecutors argued that he be held on bail. The request was denied by Judge Kacie Lally, who granted Gay supervised release.
