NYPD and school officials are warning about risks associated with wearing luxury winter coats — singling out the Moose Knuckles brand, which costs as much as $1,600 and has been at the center of several winter robberies, including knifepoint and machete stickups.
NYPD Officer John Williams warned of the coat thefts at a recent community meeting in the 110th Precinct in Corona, Queens. He cited three robberies of Moose Knuckles jackets: one where the assailant brandished a knife and two others where machetes were used.
In another incident, in the 115th Precinct in early February, a group of five teenagers approached a 15-year-old boy at a subway station in Jackson Heights, Queens, according to the NYPD Tips account on Instagram.
“Acting in concert, the individuals made a statement, punched the victim in the face and forcibly removed the victim’s hood from his Moose Knuckles jacket,” the post read.
The NYPD said on Monday they arrested 19-year-old Josue Montes and charged him with seven clothing robberies that occurred between Dec. 15 and Feb. 25. The stolen property included sneakers, bags and Moose Knuckles jackets and were taken at knifepoint, police said.
Attorney information for Montes was not immediately available.
Williams, in addressing the community meeting in Corona, noted the jackets were “rather expensive” and cautioned residents to be vigilant.
“Just be aware of your surroundings, OK?” he told the gathering. “Don’t have your head buried in your phone.”
The much sought-after Moose Knuckles brand has partnered with various celebrities, including musicians Alanis Morissette and Post Malone, and sells for as much as $1,600 at Neiman Marcus.
There was no immediate comment from Moose Knuckles regarding the robberies.
Police departments in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., have issued similar warnings of potential “coat-jackings” in recent months, involving brands such as The North Face, Canada Goose and Moose Knuckles.
NYPD officials told Gothamist the incidents have hardly amounted to an epidemic, but the concerns were sufficient to prompt a crime prevention officer in the 61st Precinct to “educate teens about recent robberies of Moose Knuckle jackets,” as the precinct noted on its Facebook page in December.
“Walk with friends, and be aware of your surroundings at all times!” the precinct stated on Facebook.
Administrators at P.S./I.S. 184 The Newport School in Brownsville, Brooklyn, took to Instagram in December to warn parents and students about the risks associated with the Moose Knuckles brand.
“Please be advised that there has been an uptick in robberies targeting Moose Knuckle jackets,” read the post, which bore the logos of the school and the NYPD. “These jackets are both expensive and currently very popular, making them a heightened risk item.”
Christopher Herrmann, an associate professor in the department of law and police science at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the idea of expensive items being stolen “is nothing new.”
“The fact that people are wearing these thousand-dollar-plus coats, that’s going to make them a target now,” he said.
The one difference, Herrmann said, is that the coats are a lot bigger than iPhones, jewelry and expensive sneakers, and thus do not easily fit into a closely studied pattern of frequently stolen or hot products, which tend to be small and easily concealed items, such as cellphones.
Herrmann said that while it was possible the thief would try to resell the stolen goods, in other instances they might choose to enjoy the items themselves.
“Some of the younger people might say, ‘Oh, I’ll just take ’em from somebody I know, or I’ll find somebody,’” he said. “Young people are typically a little more adventurous when it comes to theft.”