VIDEO: NYPD chases alleged thief on horseback through NYC 

A New York police officer chased down an alleged sunglass thief in Times Square on his horse through the streets of the Big Apple last weekend. The intense chase was captured on his body camera. 

A vendor near West 40th Street and Seventh Avenue flagged down the police on horseback and told him that seven pairs of sunglasses from his stall were stolen at around 6:45 p.m. on Saturday. 

The 60-year-old victim claimed that he confronted the suspect, but the 34-year-old man threatened him by pointing a piece of broken glass at him. The suspect then ran away from the area. 

The video begins when the NYPD is talking to the suspect, later identified as Ignacio Lewis, who is wearing a black sweatshirt and a red backpack. Although the video has no audio, it is easy to guess what happened because the suspect starts running away from the cop. 

The mounted police officers starts to chase him down the street on his horse, avoiding cars. 

Eventually, other cops waiting ahead get ahold of the suspect, who was taken into custody on charges including robbery, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. His bail was set at $50,000 cash, company bond, or partially secured surety bond. 

NYPD shared the video to show the mounted police officer’s response to the incident. 

“All of your NYPD officers are involved in crime reduction, even the four-legged ones,” NYPD tweeted. 

All of your NYPD officers are involved in crime reduction, even the four-legged ones.

Saturday evening, a male robbed a sunglass vendor in Times Square, but a @NYPDSpecialops Mounted officer was hot on his trail. With assistance from nearby officers an arrest was quickly made. pic.twitter.com/5ANbLKdYSI

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 19, 2022