ASTORIA, QUEENS -- Police are searching for a trio of men believed to be behind a spree of business burglaries all within a three-mile radius in Astoria.

The three are linked to at least five break-ins - and one attempt - at neighborhood eateries and shops, where they stole cash, blank checks, electronics and other goods in February and March, cops said.

The heists started Feb. 19 with a bodega on 31st Street near 23rd Road. One of the men slid into the building through an unlocked window at around 7 a.m. and stole two register drawers, each with around $250 in cash, police said. He swiped another $400 from a desk drawer and fled through the same window.

A week later, one of the men broke into Sac's Place Italian Restaurant at 29th Street and Broadway through a front screen window at around 2:30 a.m. and stole $100 from its cash registers, police said.

They struck again on March 3, when two of the men entered Green Apple Delight through a basement window just after 3 a.m. and stole around $850 from the juice shop on Crescent Street, cops said. The thieves fled west on 30th Avenue.

The trio then targeted a string of nearby businesses on Broadway.

On March 17, they first attempted to break into Old Neighbors laundry business at around 2:30 a.m. but were unsuccessful, police said. They then moved on to Chicken Shack just two blocks away and managed to steal blank checks after breaking in through a back door.

In their latest burglary, the thieves shattered a glass door of Mokja Korean Eatery, where they were caught on tape stealing least one paycheck, an HTC cellphone an Android cellphone and several tablets, authorities said.

The NYPD released the video surveillance of the men, who cops described as around 5-foot-8 and between 150-190 pounds.

Anyone with information in regards to these incidents is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).



Lead video via NYPD.