A fare steals $50 from a cabbie; a shooting leaves three wounded on Sands St.; and a woman leaves a $10K diamond ring in her car. It’s this week’s police blotter.
New Yorkers are now officially crazy from the heat. I know this from the weight of the crime analysis folder I was handed this morning. A lot of desperate people taking chances with open windows. So I guess the theme to this week’s blotter is lock your windows and crank the A/C. Your ConEd bill will be huge, but you won’t walk into your living room and find some man standing there.
Last Saturday night, the super at 15 Clark St. saw a man removing a bike out of the first floor window and and attempting to lift it over the fence. When he yelled, the perp dropped the bike and fled. He was soon apprehended at the SW corner of Cadman Plaza W. and Middagh Street.
On Joralemon St. last Saturday, a woman returned home to find her door open and her laptop and flat screen T.V. gone. She told police that earlier in the day she’d seen a strange man lurking around the building who had told her he was a handyman. When questioned, the building’s super said that no handyman was scheduled to visit the building that day. This sounds like something from the Twilight Zone (just not one of those episodes that’s a metaphor for the Cold War).
Even creepier, on Schermerhorn St. last Thursday, a 10-year-old girl was eating breakfast when she saw a man climb into her apartment through the window. The man immediately fled when he saw her. The girl’s father canvassed the area, but came up with nothing.
From the “Crime Doesn’t Pay … For Morons!” file: A man took a cab from Chambers St. to Henry St., then instead of paying the fare, grabbed $50 out of the cabbie’s hand and ran. He was apprehended when he returned to the scene of the crime soon after, where it was noted he had left his photo I.D. in the cab’s back seat.
A New Haven woman parked her ’97 Oldsmobile Bravada at 85 Dean St. last Friday afternoon, and returned later that day to find the front driver’s side window broken and her bag and ATM card stolen.
Another, more daring woman left her $10,000 diamond wedding ring on the console of her car after parking it at 75 Henry St. You can do the math on the rest.
A State St. woman received a phone call from her bank saying there were extensive charges to her credit card. (Mine only calls me when there aren’t any charges, because they’re worried I’ve either been kidnapped or started balancing my checkbook. Don’t worry Citibank, no chance of either happening!) As it turns out, the victim was still in possession of the card, but someone had gotten her information nonetheless, and racked up Internet charges to the tune of $1,224.38.
Our last damsel in distress was at 365 Bridge St. (aka the Belltell Lofts) last Monday. The victim left her wallet in a stroller outside the playroom. When she returned she saw her wallet on the ground and a perp being chased by a maintenance worker. That must’ve been quite a scene. The thief got away with her credit and ATM cards, which she subsequently canceled.
Last Thursday night, a man exited the subway and cut through Cadman Plaza on the way home. As he passed a man on the bench, the man stood and began following him. After the victim turned and asked, “What’s up?” the man asked him what was in the bag. “Nothing for you,” the victim replied. Just then Perp #2 appeared and asked, “What’s in your pockets?” Then Perp #3 appeared from out of the shadows. Perp #1 then grabbed the victim, took his bag and all three fled. Now, people, really—you may think nothing bad is really going to happen to you. That crimes only happen to the inane or unfortunate. And I know I’ve been guilty of waking alone at night with my iPod, when I should be on the alert instead of listening to Steely Dan. But it’s this invincibility that makes victims-to-be believe it’s ok to carry a $750 iPad along with a $900 Nikon SLR in their bags through Cadman Plaza in the dead of night. And that is exactly what the victim lost. Luckily he was unharmed.
And finally, there was a shooting half a mile from Cadman Plaza, at Sands St. at around 3:20 a.m. on June 21st. Victims included a 20-year-old shot twice in the face; a 26-year-old shot in the left leg; and a 17-year-old shot in the left hand, arm and hip. All were treated at Bellevue, though no word on their condition, and I could find little on it anywhere. And that’s this week’s police blotter.
