Police ID men they say connected to robbery spree

New York Police Department investigators believe they've made a huge step toward solving a string of gunpoint robberies that all started on a Kingsbridge stretch of Broadway.

Officers are looking for three men they say are connected to the late-night crime spree, but have stopped short of calling them suspects. They are Brian Rodriguez, 26; Gilberto Garcia, 23; and Bryan Lloret, 22.

The men have information, or may even have been involved, in 10 robberies that hit the Bronx and Manhattan beginning with the robbery of a couple on Broadway and Verveelen Place in Kingsbridge during the early morning hours of Aug. 26. The man and woman were walking back to the car, according to police, when two men forced them to hand over about $200 and jewelry.

The robberies continued through mid-October, almost always happening in the early morning hours, and more often than not involving expensive jewelry. That included a Sept. 16 robbery of a 37-year-old man near West 227th Street and Arlington Avenue in Spuyten Duyvil who was pistol-whipped in the face before having $16,000 worth of jewelry taken from him, according to police, as well as $600 in cash. 

The most recent robbery occurred Oct. 14 just before 1 a.m., when a 30-year-old man in front of the BP gast station at 3936 10th Ave., in Inwood, was approached by three men who reportedly showed a gun and started kicking him, running off with his Cuban linked gold and diamond chain, as well as his diamond watch.

Anyone with any information on the potential whereabouts of the three men is urged to called the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at (800) 577-8477, or by visiting NYPDCrimeStoppers.com. Tips can also be delivered via Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls, police say, are kept strictly confidential.