Three robberies were reported on Uptown streets in the days leading up to Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, a 61-year-old woman was robbed while helping her mother out a car in the Fontainbleau neighborhood. Earlier that day, a man’s cellphone was snatched on St. Charles Avenue in the Garden District. Another man was robbed at gunpoint in the Xavier University area on Dec. 23.
In the Christmas Eve robbery, the woman had pulled her vehicle over in the 7700 block of Nelson Street at about 8:25 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 24. She got out of the car and was assisting her mother when two youths, possibly 12 to 14 years old, offered help.
As they approached, the youths grabbed the 61-year-old’s purse and fled on Nelson toward Burdette Street.
Earlier that day, just after noon, a 45-year-old man was selling a cellphone to another man at St. Charles near Louisiana Avenue. The purported buyer snatched the phone from his hand and fled.
On Monday, Dec. 23, at about 10 p.m. a man asked the victim, a 38-year-old man, for cash at South Carrollton Avenue and Drexel Drive. When the victim turned over some cash, the man told him it wasn’t enough and pulled a gun.
The gunman took him to several locations to retrieve more money. As he was being driven to another spot, the victim jumped out of the car and fled.
Police have named a suspect in the armed robbery, Steven Castro.
Further details were not immediately available. Anyone with information is urged to call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.
