Police say the same group hit businesses in Gravesend and Sheepshead Bay about 15 minutes apart Wednesday afternoon.
NEW YORK, NY — Police are searching for three people accused of robbing two spas at knifepoint in southern Brooklyn within about 15 minutes of each other, stealing a total of about $700 and leaving one worker hurt as she tried to get away, authorities said.
The back-to-back robberies, reported on Wednesday, March 11, stretched across two nearby neighborhoods and raised concern about a short crime spree aimed at small storefront businesses in the middle of the afternoon. Investigators say the same three suspects struck first in Gravesend and then in Sheepshead Bay, using a knife, kicking in interior doors and fleeing before officers caught up with them. As of Saturday, no arrests had been announced and police had released surveillance images in hopes that someone would recognize the suspects.
According to investigators, the first robbery happened at about 4:25 p.m. at a spa above a deli at 354 Kings Highway in Gravesend. Police said three people entered the business, displayed a knife and forced their way farther inside by kicking in a door. The group took about $500, then ran off, authorities said. During the encounter, a 47-year-old female employee hurt her ankle while trying to flee. Police said she refused medical attention at the scene. The address sits on a busy commercial stretch where storefronts, takeout shops and small service businesses stand close together, a setting that can leave workers little time to react when a violent crime unfolds quickly. The suspects were gone before officers could stop them, and investigators began trying to trace where the group headed next.
Police said the answer came fast. At about 4:40 p.m., roughly 1.6 miles away, the same three suspects were accused of targeting another spa at 2115 E. 15th St. in Sheepshead Bay. In that robbery, investigators said, the group again forced its way through part of the business, kicking and damaging a door and a wall before taking about $200 and fleeing. No injuries were reported in the second attack. The two incidents, taken together, suggest a tightly timed pattern: investigators believe the suspects moved from one business to the other in a short window and used the same basic method in both places. Police have not publicly said how the group traveled between the locations or whether detectives have recovered video showing the route they took after leaving either scene.
What police have released so far is limited but specific. Surveillance images from the first robbery show three people walking on a sidewalk. All appear to be wearing hooded sweatshirts, and one appears to be holding a cellphone. Investigators have not publicly released ages, names or fuller descriptions beyond the images, and they have not said whether the knife shown in the first robbery was also seen in the second. They also have not said whether detectives believe the spas were chosen in advance or whether the businesses were picked because they were nearby and appeared vulnerable. Those gaps matter because they will help determine whether detectives treat the robberies as a one-day opportunity crime, a more deliberate pattern targeting similar businesses, or part of a broader series that could reach beyond the two known locations.
The robberies happened in a part of Brooklyn where neighborhood business strips can change block by block, from apartment-lined corridors to clusters of restaurants, beauty shops and service storefronts. Both addresses are in south Brooklyn neighborhoods with steady foot traffic during the day, and both businesses appear to have been operating from small commercial spaces rather than large, heavily staffed storefronts. That kind of setting can make workers more exposed when a robbery turns violent. In the first case, the employee’s ankle injury happened not during a prolonged struggle, police said, but as she tried to escape. Investigators have not said whether any customers were inside either spa at the time. They also have not said whether cash was the only property taken or whether any surveillance systems inside the businesses captured clearer images than the footage released to the public.
The incidents also come as robbery counts in the surrounding precincts have been running higher than a year earlier, according to the NYPD’s latest weekly CompStat reports covering the period through March 8, before these robberies occurred. In the 61st Precinct, which covers Sheepshead Bay, robbery complaints were up 62.5% year to date compared with the same period in 2025. In the 62nd Precinct, which covers Gravesend, robberies were up 47.4% year to date. Those figures do not mean the two spa robberies were part of any identified trend targeting spas in particular, and police have not made that claim. But the numbers do show that robbery has been one of the categories drawing added attention in both areas even before Wednesday’s two incidents were reported.
For detectives, the case now moves into the familiar but often difficult stage between public release and arrest. Investigators will typically compare surveillance from nearby stores and street cameras, review timing between the two robberies, and look for similarities in clothing, movement and escape direction. Because one suspect appeared to be on a cellphone in the image police released, detectives may also try to build a timeline around digital or location evidence if they can identify the person. Police have not said whether fingerprints, DNA or other physical evidence were recovered from the damaged doors or interior surfaces in either business. They also have not announced any charges, which means the case remains at the wanted-for-questioning and identification stage rather than the prosecution stage. No court date has been set because no suspect has been publicly named.
For the businesses involved, the damage appears to go beyond the money reported stolen. At the first spa, police said a door was kicked in; at the second, a door and wall were damaged. That leaves owners and workers dealing not only with lost cash but with repairs, disrupted operations and the fear that comes after a violent encounter in a workplace built around calm and privacy. Police have not publicly identified the injured employee, and no owner statements had been released as of Saturday. That silence is common early in robbery investigations, especially when workers may still be shaken and businesses are trying to decide how to reopen or increase security. Even so, the known details already sketch a sharp contrast: the businesses are designed to offer quiet, but the crimes were sudden, loud and forceful, unfolding in daylight and ending before help could arrive.
Where the case stands now is straightforward: three suspects are still being sought, police are circulating surveillance images, and detectives are treating the Gravesend and Sheepshead Bay robberies as linked. The next clear milestone will be whether investigators identify the trio and announce arrests in the days ahead.
Author note: Last updated March 15, 2026.