A pair of multicolored briefs peeking out above a robbery suspect’s low-slung trousers helped police arrest him more than a year later, federal authorities in New York said Wednesday.
The robbery happened at a tobacco shop in Queens on Sept. 14, 2022. Three masked men got out of a Mazda and entered the store, according to a complaint filed in federal court last week.
Two of the men pointed guns at employees and customers while the third emptied the cash register and grabbed merchandise and employees’ cellphones, the complaint said. The robbers fled in the Mazda.
Surveillance videos that were disseminated through the media showed the third robber wearing brightly colored briefs with a large letter R in white and the year 1990 in yellow.
An anonymous tipster passed along the Instagram handle of the suspect with the colorful underwear, the complaint said. The caller also told police that the robbers had tried to sell their stolen merchandise at another Queens location.
Detectives reviewed video footage from the sale location and spotted the man with the colorful underwear, now easily identifiable because he was no longer wearing a mask, the complaint said.
Police identified the suspect based on his Instagram account, the video from the merchandise sale spot and photos from prior arrests, according to the complaint.
The 30-year-old suspect was arrested Wednesday morning at his home in Queens by members of a New York Police Department-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joint task force. He was awaiting arraignment in federal court in Brooklyn, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office said.
An email seeking comment was sent to the suspect’s attorney with the federal public defender’s office.
The other two robbery suspects are still at large, authorities said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.