STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A 29-year-old man from West Brighton is accused of committing gunpoint robberies in his home borough and in Queens, including a disturbing heist where a 17-year-old subway rider was forced to take money out of a bank.
Robert Petty of Delafield Avenue was arrested on Nov. 27 in Queens after police previously asked for tips in the alleged heist against the teen that began at the Kew Gardens/Union Turnpike subway station on Oct. 29 around 7:30 p.m.
Closer to home, Petty was apprehended on Nov. 24 for a robbery on Oct. 6 at about 5:30 a.m. on Corson Avenue near Jersey Street in New Brighton, according to the criminal complaint.
In the heist on Staten Island, court documents allege that Petty held a black firearm in his hand and said to the victim, “Give me your money.”
The defendant snatched $200 from the victim’s wallet before fleeing, the complaint alleges.
The victim, a man, was a stranger to the defendant, according to a law-enforcement source.
Petty was indicted this week for robbery in the first, second and third degrees, grand larceny in the fourth degree, menacing in the second degree and petit larceny, and he is scheduled to be arraigned in state Supreme Court in St. George on Dec. 11, according to public records.
The defendant, who stands 6 feet tall and weighs 217 pounds, is being held at Rikers Island in lieu of bail set at $60,000 bond/$30,000 cash for the Staten Island case.
An attorney for the defendant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors detail Queens robberies
The incident at the Queens subway station began when a 17-year-old male victim asked Petty for directions on the northbound platform.
“I was going to mug you on the train,” the criminal complaint in that case alleges that the defendant said to the victim.
The defendant repeatedly demanded that the victim give him money, and when the victim said that he did not have any cash, Petty showed a gun that he had in his waistband, the complaint alleges.
At Petty’s insistence, the victim tried to use a cash app to send the defendant $100, authorities said. After the transaction failed, the defendant forced the victim to remove about $140 from a bank on Queens Boulevard, the complaint alleges.
The defendant fled on foot, traveling northbound on Queens Boulevard.
In an incident in Queens on Nov. 6, Petty and a suspect who remains at large allegedly robbed a man who was trying to buy marijuana from them on Sutphin Boulevard.
The complaint alleges that the victim had $350 in his hand when Petty removed a black firearm from his backpack and pointed the gun at the victim.
“You know what time it is,” the complaint quoted Petty as saying. “Don’t make it worse than what it is.”
The suspect who remains at large allegedly reached into the victim’s pockets and snatched $400. Petty and his accomplice also allegedly fled with the victim’s Apple Watch, AirPods, an electric scooter and boxing gloves.
Petty faces charges that include robbery and grand larceny when he is scheduled to return to Criminal Court in Queens on Dec. 22. Public records do not list information about his pleas and names of defense attorneys in those cases.