A man is now in custody in connection with a string of gunpoint robberies of women in the Windsor Terrace and Kensington neighborhoods of Brooklyn – another man says he helped police catch the suspect.
From August 20-29, police say the man approached five different women in the area just southwest of Prospect Park, pulled a gun and stole cash, cellphones and other items.
All the attacks happened late at night or before dawn.
In one case, police say a 28-year-old woman refused to hand over her property, and the suspect hit her in the head with the gun before taking her bag and running away.
Charles Henderson, a man who lives in the area, spotted the man and says he alerted police. They managed to corner the suspect in front of an ice cream shop at Prospect Park South West and Vanderbilt Street.
"I saw this guy last Saturday evening around the same time up on 19th, just after he had committed his fifth armed robbery," he said. "Based on some of the behavior I saw from him the times I saw him, he wasn't from the neighborhood. And he was coming into the neighborhood and targeting women – helpess, defenseless women."
Police tweeteed a photo of the gun they say they found on the suspect.