Man robs from four-year-old girl at cash machine minutes after 'shoving elderly woman to ground' and taking her purse

Police appeal for witnesses after male suspect commits two robberies in 10 minutes

A man has been caught on camera stealing money from a four-year-old girl at a cash machine, minutes after allegedly “shoving” an elderly woman to the floor before taking her purse.

CCTV footage captured the suspect “grab” a wad of bank notes from the child’s hand just after she takes it from the machine where she was was being helped by her mother, who also had a five-month-old in a pushchair, police in New York said.

He can then be seen fleeing the scene with $300 and the child’s glove.

Just eight minutes earlier, a suspect with the same description “shoved” an 81-year-old woman to the floor before taking her purse, investigators said, adding that the victim was left with bruising and pain to her back and left wrist.

The woman was taken to a nearby hospital in a stable condition. Among the items inside her purse were $65 (£47.30), a cell phone and her medication.

New York's City Police Department is now appealing for the public to help them locate and identify the individual wanted in connection to the robberies, both of which occurred within the confines of the 20th Precinct.

The individual is described as a black male between 20 and 25 years old. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweater, a green flight jacket, grey sweatpants and grey sneakers.