Woman disguised as "Cat Woman" robs NYC retailers

QUEENS (WABC) -- Police are searching for a robber who they are calling the real-life "Cat Woman." The unidentified woman prances into upscale retail stores in Manhattan and Queens, robbing the store and leaving with cash.

Police say that 'cat woman' used her disguise to rob $86 from a high-end shoe store in the East Village last Thursday afternoon. Investigators have the store's surveillance video, along with a worker's description of the woman.

Babu Hug, a street vendor in the East Village of Manhattan, spotted the robber in the act. "She was covered with like a black dress, her face was fully covered. I see only her lips, that's it, nothing else," said Hug.

Detectives believe she is the same woman who covered her head in a black scarf and robbed several hundred dollars fromThe Body Shop store on Austin street in Forest Hills on the following Friday in the early afternoon.

Moments after the robbery, Investigators went door to door questioning neighboring business owners and alerting them to what happened.

Retailers were stunned that the thief struck in mid-day. Jorge Guzman, a Forest Hills business Owner, said, "People show over time when they are desperate they do crazy things and this is what they do for a living. They are not afraid of being caught."

Police told Eyewitness News in April of last year the robber used to the same type of cover up to rob a Nine West shoe store, just down the street from The Body Shop store robbed last week.

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new york city, robbery, forest hills, queens, manhattan, local news, joe torres

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