Wild in the (Brooklyn Heights) Streets

Do you have a better description?

Yes, Heather Q.! Your absence has reduced the local citizenry to reporting crimes first-hand; to assuming the pose of the ink-stained wretch, but without the editorial eye or apprenticeship, not to mention the leveling stamp of the law. Can the police blotter thrive as a mere simulacrum? I fear that only time intervenes between that moment you resigned, Heather, and that moment when this ad-hockery will implode, or explode, or otherwise create a charred pit at the center of the Brooklyn Heights Blog.

And now my story.

On Wyckoff Street in Cobble Hill, between Court St. and Smith, I witnessed a heinous phone-napping yesterday afternoon. I was approaching a promising sidewalk sale (I thought I could already see a box of music CDs) just as the gated proprietor was handing his cell phone across the fence to the one other customer. This “customer” (tall, very black, born outside this country judging by accent), made a show of casually turning his back on us and ambling away as he spoke or tried to maintain the signal. Before the proprietor could make it out from behind his gate and sprint halfway down the block, the peripatetic perp had jumped into his double-parked SUV and accelerated away.

(Ach. You see, Heather, how long it has taken me to tell this simple story? And I’m not even finished.)

I felt very bad, not having been able to help in any way (my sprinting-after-phone-fiends is currently compromised due to a foot injury), but, the crime having been committed and the thief being escaped, I could not resist taking one last look at the man’s music CDs. Finding nothing, I limped away.

The guy was probably drunk or on drugs. It was Saturday night afterall. At least they didn’t get robbed or assaulted at gunpoint, which is known to happen from time to time.

Isn’t State Street notorious for crime, which seeps into BH from Atlantic Avenue?

These crimes should have been reported to the local police precincts. Phone number for the 84th Precinct is 718-875-6811.

Peter Parker didn’t call the cops either. He then paid a terrible price for that lack of civic spirit.

i wish that the”unharmed” BHB reader had taken the minimal time to call the police to report the incident. It was irresponsible not to have done so.

I wonder if “some drunk kid” gets a pass from various people because he was white?

Skunky et al, You seem to have a fanciful view of the NYPD and their response to such an minor incident. First of all, You cannot just “call in” a report, you must either, still be at the scene where the crime occurred and wait for the cops to show up, or if you went home, they will ask you to come down to the precinct to”file a complaint”. Either way, unless it was something serious (which this was far from) they would file your report away never to be seen again and do absolutely nothing. “increased patrols” LOL LOL LOL Please you people, move back to Mayberry.

By the way- I didn’t even read the description of the attacker, in case anyone was wondering if my earlier comment would have been different based on the race of the half-hearted assailant. I wouldn’t bother to say, but another commenter brought up the question.

The main thing that needs to be done here is a better description of the person who did it and what actually happened. I don’t think we’re getting the full story.

What did the person actually do? Something is a bit off with the story- I’ve never heard of a lone, unarmed mugger trying to physically grab two people at the same time for no apparent reason unless he was drunk/crazy. Do you have any evidence/idea what he intention was? And then both people decide, oh, well, I wasn’t hurt, I’ll be on my way – telling the police is too much work, so I’ll tell a blog instead?

He grabbed me for no apparent reason and I wasn’t hurt = harassment 2, which is a violation. He could get a ticket for that, if he was still on the scene, if the victim wanted to sign the ticket. He grabbed me and I was hurt = assault 3 – he would get arrested if he were still there, but if they couldn’t find him and he was unknown to the vic, a report is filed but no investigation. He grabbed me and used a weapon, or I was seriously hurt (assault 2) tried to snatch my purse/wallet, (attempted robbery/grand larceny) pull up my skirt, drag me off, (sex abuse) etc. THAT would be investigated, whether you were hurt or not or whether he got anything or not. Increased patrols for those? Probably not, unless there was a pattern. If you go to the public NYPD page, click on Crime Stats, and look at the 84th Pct, you will see that there have been 803 “index” crimes in our neighborhood alone this year.

You probably should have called right when it happened, so they could have sorted out who he was and what he was doing right then, and even if you didn’t want to be involved or it was only a violation, they would have had his name in case it happened again, or escalated with other people, or whatever. Maybe he was a crazy person that should have been hauled off to LICH. Maybe you would have prevented HIM from getting hurt in the future, because he would be sorry if he tried to grab me. Making a report now might or might not result in an investigation – if that story is the best you can do, though, it won’t amount to much.

A better description of the person and the story could help others in the neighborhood watch their backs if they see anyone, or maybe he lives here and someone knows who he is.

It’s also not a bad idea to get pepper spray – it works very well if you can surprise the person and have good aim. I think some come with dummy cans that spray water so you can practice.

The “you would have called if he were black” comments are a little much. How do you know the victims or the commenter aren’t black? Does anyone really care what color the person is who grabs you on a dark street? It was only mentioned in the first place as part of a description.

@Willowtown Cop thanks for your insight, it is quite helpful. My point about the race issue is that regardless of who the victims were, I have seen the commenters on this blog freak out over similar incidents in the past when no one called the police, whereas now it’s almost like people are making excuses for the “stupid drunk kid”. It’s very hard to establish a pattern if no one reports the data.

@skunky- a pattern of what exactly? What do you think this is, C.S.I.? Are you looking for a pattern of harassment on the street in the middle of the night? There’s already a well established pattern that drunk youths may accost people.in such a fashion. We need this kid’s name on file for what purpose exactly? So if he ever gets arrested for shoplifting, the officer can say: “Say- you’re that guy who got his butt handed to him by that elderly couple on State St. last month!”?

Willowtown Cop is right. Without more information indicating otherwise, it doesn’t sound as though this incident is serious enough to warrant the attention of the Police Department. It isn’t entirely clear WHAT exactly occurred.

Skunky… Skunky, listen to me. You’re gonna be fine. We’re all gonna be fine. The terror of the drunk kid on State Street shall not consume us all. The police do a good job maintaining a presence and responding to situations, but we are all responsible for own safety to a degree. Not roaming the streets at nearly three in the morning would be a good way to avoid meeting this miscreant, don’t you think? I think WE can handle this guy. Quick, Skunky! To the Mastermobile!

Sounds like it’s time to start digging the moats.

@Western Brooklyn, I agree. Although I’m rarely (never!) out and about at 3 AM, I’ll be damned if anyone should tell me not to.

@Master Of Middagh:

Crime happens 24/7. I don’t agree with your blame-the-victim philosophy because, “they were out too late at night.”