Thugs Creepin’ in Brooklyn Heights

By on November 2, 2011 4:04 pm in crime

As we search for our next Police Blotter reporter, this crazy crime news comes to us from the Brooklyn Paper:

A man fought off two knife-wielding thugs who tried to steal his iPhone on Hicks Street on Oct. 24.

The fearless would-be victim said that he was near Pineapple Street at 10 pm when one of the men held a knife to his throat and asked for his cellphone.

He responded by punching that thief in the face, prompting both men to run off.

And another (alleged) sub-human robbed another iPhone on Willow Place:

Police arrested a man who allegedly stole an iPhone at gunpoint on Willow Place on Oct. 28. The victim said he was between Joralemon and State streets at 10:45 pm when he was robbed by a gun-toting thug. Police recovered a device, and the victim said it was his missing cellphone.

Is an iPhone really a hold up at gunpoint item? Has the cult of Steve Jobs totally infected the underworld as well?

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  • Pierrepont

    Worst part is the cost of the fool data plan! You’d have to be very successful criminal to pay for the service, let alone the device!

  • Colin

    They’re worth like $600 – that’s more than most people carry in their wallets and purses. Be careful, y’all!

  • Matt

    “He responded by punching that thief in the face, prompting both men to run off.”

    Hooray!!!

    I just had my bike stolen from the ground floor hall of my building on Montague Terrace. I built that bike by hand and rode it every single day. Heartbreaking. I still have fantasies of what I would do if I find someone else riding my beloved Betty Bianchi.

  • Teddy

    Yeah, holding an iPhone in your hand is like holding several hundred dollars loosely in your hand. That bright display at night acts like a beacon for cash-strapped teens/young men. I usually keep mine hidden until I reach a more secure location like a eatery (not Mickey D’s), Barnes & Noble (to a point) or home/work (best).

  • monty

    Hot phonies are worth far less than $600. Also, you have to be a gigantic moron to risk your life over some small piece of property.

  • monty

    “Hot iphones” that should say. That was due to autocorrect on my android phone :)

  • Jorale-man

    Lately I seen a lot more people weaving back and forth on the sidewalks of the Heights staring at their iPhones at night. Aside from being obvious crime magnets, they miss the beauty of autumn in the neighborhood – the changing leaves, the seasonal decorations, the way the light and shadow play off the buildings. It’s rather sad actually.

  • Old Ironsides

    The fearless would be victim took the right approach. If confronted by a would be thief or assailant one should always resist. Gun shot or stab wounds can always be treated at a hospital, but your iPhone is one of a kind. Imagine having to resync all of your music or recovering/attempting to remember all of your Contacts. Forget that. Too much hassle. Do not let anyone take your iPhone without a fight or violent struggle.

    The more you know.

  • Joe

    ^ I’ll give you my iphone when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!

  • Joe

    Matt, we had two of our bikes stolen from our basement. We now keep our new bikes in our apartment. Our foyer is more crowded but our bikes are at least safe.

  • David on Middagh

    Matt (speaking as one whose thin U-lock was no protection against a leverage attack), may I ask how the thief did it? (Grabbed unlocked bike, cut cable, broke lock…?)

  • PromGal

    @Teddy
    “cash-strapped teens/young men”?
    You mean law breaking, violent, thieves and criminals.

  • Kay Corkett

    What’s up with the use of the word sub-human for anybody no matter what they did? That’s the kind of thinking that makes slavery and Nazism acceptable. Hey it’s only a ‘word!” No, it’s the thinking behind the word that’s completely unacceptable. Who writes this stuff?

  • WillowtownCop

    And calling someone else’s thinking unacceptable doesn’t smell like fascism? I suspect the author doesn’t care one bit what type of thinking you think is unacceptable.

    No one in this country is hard up enough to justify sticking a gun in someone’s face in order to snatch a toy that no one really needs. These people are willing to put an innocent life at risk for a few hundred bucks at the most.

    Aside from the thugs, I really don’t understand people who pay no attention to their surroundings while walking down the street with their face in a phone. Besides being great mugging victims, I see people wander into the street without looking, narrowly miss crashing into old people, etc. These are the same idiots who drive while playing with their phones.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Funny, my 357 magnum is worth several hundred dollars and no one ever tried to take it away from me on a dark street?

  • Publius

    Snarch, you’re one bad as*ed mofo. Make my day.

  • NG

    Willowtown Cop you are correct on all fronts

  • resident

    @Monty: How would one know if an iphone is hot? It seems that you get the most money on the secondary market for a “jailbroken” iphone, and wouldn’t that eliminate any owner information?

    It seems that an iphone is pretty easy money for a would be thief. Don’t even need a “fence,” they have eBay.

  • Elmer Fudd

    Arch, I hope you have a carry permit. Are you willing to shoot a cop, if you don’t?

  • x

    CRIMINALS ARE Subhumans. And they don’t care about your feelings or lives.

  • x

    I saw a show on Discovery about credit card fraud artists, who ripped off people’s credit card numbers to make new credit cards to purchase hot items, ie IPAD, and then post them on Craigslist for a quick flip for cash.

  • EHinBH

    You must fight back if you think you can.

  • Teddy

    @PromGal

    Just navigating the politically and socially correct minefield that’s in place in these parts. You’re absolutely right.

  • Willow St. Neighbor

    EHinBH,
    Fight back? Fight back against someone who might not value your life in order to steal your IPhone? Is it really worth it?

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/13189502@N02/ Eddyenergizer

    Yes fight back if you can. About 20 years ago in Amsterdam, two guys tried to mug me. I kicked the knife out of one guys hand and punched the other guy in the face, breaking his jaw… Lose my cash and my passport, I think not.

  • GHB

    Eddyenergizer, so you beat up a couple of little Dutch boys?

  • BH’er

    Rather than give up your iPhone or have to fight back – keep that thing tucked away for the 5 minutes you’re walking in dangerous areas – even if it’s in BH at night!

    If these guys find easy targets, they’re going to keep coming back putting others in danger!

    If you try to punch the wrong thief, you’re going to end up a newspaper story

    Keep us all safe, keep your phone – BB, iPhone, Android, whatever – put away on the street and on the subways!

    We teach kids to pay attention to your surroundings and not get distracted! We should be so wise

    Can’t tell you how many people nearly walk into me just walking in daylight because they’re face down in a text/email/web site on their phone… I’ve seen people practically killed crossing the street because they’re just not paying attention!

    Be smart!

  • John Wentling

    I heart Arch.

    When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

  • resident

    Yep, fighting back sure worked for this poor kid… http://gothamist.com/2011/10/29/queens_teenager_murdered_for_iphone.php

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/13189502@N02/ Eddyenergizer

    GHB, one of them was shorter the other a bit taller then me. They were late teens early twenties… not the dyke plugging variety.

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