Children as young as 8 are ransacking NYC businesses after being taught to steal by ‘THEIR PARENTS’ in modern-day Oliver Twist

Children as young as eight are taught to commit crimes by “their parents” and have reportedly looted businesses in New York City.

In what is called the modern Oliver Twist, the New York Post reported that the young thugs have been terrorizing bars in eastern and western Manhattan and Brooklyn for months.

A typical crime wave will range from children robbing cash from unattended bags to stealing cash from open safes with two businesses hit in the last two weeks.

Initially, children try to raise money under the guise of raising money for their sports teams, for example, before gouging their targets for whatever they can find.

Most disturbingly, business owners told the Post they saw adults waiting for children outside the targeted businesses.

“The weird thing is that it feels like a modern-day ‘Oliver Twist’ story,” said a manager at Lexington Publick, one of several bars owned by owner Jacob Rabinowitz that have been visited in recent months.

‘When they go out, there is a man or a woman waiting for them and taking charge. These are little children, this is child abuse!’ Rabinowitz said.

It is believed the crime spree began about eight months ago, when two children repeatedly targeted the Amsterdam Ale House on West 76th Street on the Upper West Side, taking whatever they could get their hands on.

That changed in February when the store reported the pair grabbed food from a table, pushed a customer and brandished a knife, manager Whitney Kaufam told the Post.

“I saw a kid take a wing off someone’s plate and eat it,” Kaufman said.

‘I went to escort him out and he swore at me. The 8-year-old turned around and said to me, “I don’t have to do anything, you fat lady,” and punched me in the stomach.

“He ran to the back of the restaurant and stole a child’s toy. He then grabbed a knife from the table and wielded it like a weapon. They pushed a guy.”

In August, a boy believed to be eight years old stole $600 from a safe at the establishment, police said.

Surveillance footage provided to the outlet captured the moment.

Upside bar owner Stephanie Slone, 40, told the Post that she had previously seen the boy with an older child, about 10, and that they were always asking for donations for their basketball team.

“You can see him looking in every room and doorway and then he notices the office and steps into the office,” she told the outlet, adding that part of the safe was not secured.

Slone is considering banning children from the venue unless they are accompanied by an adult.

“The parents are clearly forcing them to do that and have taught them what to do, it’s sad,” she said.

Earlier this week, a young thief stole about $700 in loose change, a manager at the Lexington Publick on East 97th Street told the outlet.

“The child goes there, he opens the bathroom door, looks behind him to make sure no one is watching, and then audibly closes the bathroom door so it sounds like he went to the bathroom,” she explained after viewing the surveillance footage had viewed.

“And then he just slipped into the office downstairs.”

She claimed the boy lay there for seven minutes before stuffing a “thick wad of notes” into his waistband and tucking his shirt over it before making a vulgar comment and sneaking out of the room.

“I just had a really big s***, so don’t go back there for a while,” the child allegedly said.

“It’s really sad, these kids are sent and they know exactly what to do,” the anonymous manager explained.

‘I don’t know if anyone plots the locations in advance. Maybe an adult came in a few days earlier, had a beer and looked around.”

It is believed a number of places were scouted before being targeted, with one child running to the basement of a bar near Prospect Park in Brooklyn – apparently knowing where to go on July 19.

He quickly left the bar after a bartender pulled out her phone to record the incident, but not before spitting at her before leaving.

The same month, a child went to an Upper West location called Chick Chick and fled to the basement before having to be “physically removed.”

It remains unclear whether the same children were involved in the whole series of criminal enterprises, although staff at the site believe they are related.

According to New York State, 448 children were taken into custody in 2022 Office of Children and Family Services.

The number of children committing crimes has soared across the country since 2020, reversing a decade-long decline from last year. Wall Street Journal reported.

New York City police said 124 youth committed shootings in 2022, up from 62 in 2020 and 48 in 2019.

The New York Police Department is still investigating the reported thefts to determine if they are gang-related.