Police: 5 Wanted In Violent Greenwich Village Robberies

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are searching for five people accused in two violent robberies in Greenwich Village.

Both holdups happened early Wednesday.

In the first, police said a 55-year-old man was attacked on West 14th Street around 12:30 a.m. The victim was punched, kicked and slashed in the face before the thieves made off with $30, police said.

Then about 25 minutes later, police said the group approached a 23-year-old man on Seventh Avenue and demanded his property. When the man refused, police said he was slashed in the face and hand. The suspect then fled with the man's cell phone, police said.

Both victims were taken to area hospitals in stable condition.

Police have released surveillance video of the suspects, four men and a woman who they say are all in their late teens to early 20s.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.