Independence Plaza burglaries
A burglar, or burglars, entered two apartments at 80 N. Moore St. in Independence Plaza Wed., July 15 during the day and made off with laptop computers and other items, police said. The residents of the apartments on the 34th and 35th floors of the 39-story tower left for work around 8 a.m. and discovered the thefts when the returned home. Police discovered small prying marks near the latches of the doors at the two apartments. Officers scheduled to return to dust for fingerprints were delayed by other duties until 10 p.m. and the victims cancelled the appointments because they had to go to sleep, according to the police report.
Boutique robber
A man walked into Paracelso, a clothing boutique at 414 W. Broadway at 3:30 p.m. Tues., July 21 grabbed the 70-year-old saleswoman, shook her violently, pepper-sprayed her and fled with $100 he took from a cash box and three blouses he took from hangers, police said. The suspect was described as a white male about 30 years old, 6’4” and 220 pounds with long black hair.
Flower robbery
Police arrested William Lopez, 22, and a 16-year-old at 1:30 a.m. Sun., July 26 and charged them with stealing flowers from a shop at 56 Fulton St., near Cliff St. The teen punched an employee who tried to stop the pair, then tried to break into a cash register and hit the employee again, according to the charges. Both suspects were charged with second degree robbery.
Hit with shoe
A Brooklyn man, 37, got into an argument around 2:50 p.m. Wed., July 15 on Maiden Ln. at Pearl St. with an acquaintance who took off his shoe, hit the victim about the head and face with it and fled, police said.
Cell phone snatch
A woman talking on her cell phone on Wooster St. between Spring and Prince Sts. around 8:45 p.m. Thurs., July 30 had it snatched from her hand by a man who fled west on Spring St., police said.
Spring burglar
A burglar broke into the Cleo & Patek shop on Spring St. around 4:28 a.m. Tues., July 21 and made off with handbags valued at a total of $1,500, police said.
Soho eatery burglar
A night porter at Zoe Restaurant, 90 Prince St., thought the person he spotted in the place at 11 p.m. Tues., July 14 was a daytime employee but when he checked later discovered a basement door was off its hinges, an iPod and four laptops were gone and the safe had been damaged but not opened, police said.
Rainy day burglar
A resident of 65 Reade St. told police he saw a man he believed was a building employee on the fire escape and lent him a screw driver around 9 a.m. Wed., July 29, but later remembered that it had been raining heavily and went back to check on the supposed worker. The man was gone, but three fifth floor apartments at 85 Chambers St., accessible from the roof of the Reade St. building, were burglarized, police said. Four laptop computers, two watches, a digital camera and $200 in cash were stolen, police said. The rainy day burglary suspect was described as a white man with crooked teeth, 5’10” and 160 pounds.
Attendant impersonator
A Queens woman drove her 2007 black Toyota into what she thought was a parking lot near a construction site on the northeast corner of Maiden Ln. at Front St. around 3 p.m. Sun., July 19 and gave her keys to the attendant, police said. Right behind her a man pulled his 2003 Toyota Camry into the lot and gave his keys to the attendant. When they returned they discovered the space was not a parking lot, and their keys and cars were gone along with the attendant, police said.
Car missing
An employee of a Brooklyn contractor parked the company car on the northeast corner of Beekman and South Sts. on April 24 but no one returned to the spot until 11:30 a.m. Fri., July 24, police said. The vehicle was gone and the loss was reported to police the following day. A check of the auto tow pound indicated the car had not been towed. Police did not know why the car was left at the site for three months.
Soho car theft
A New Jersey man told police he parked his car on the northeast corner of Spring and Thompson St. on Sat., July 18 and returned at 7 p.m. to find it had been stolen. The car was equipped with Lo-Jack anti theft equipment. Lo-Jack, however, said that only police cars equipped with the device could track stolen cars, police said.
Domestic assault
Police arrested Richard Purcell, 45, in his apartment on Gold St. at 5 a.m. Wed., July 15 and charged him with assault for pushing his domestic partner to the floor and hitting her with a 40-inch flat-screen television during an argument. Police said the victim passed out and revived to find Purcell vacuuming the floor. Another argument ensued and he kicked her, according to police. He was freed on $2,500 bail pending a Sept. 22 court appearance.
Bags gone
A Brooklyn woman having lunch at a deli at 130 Water St. on Tues., July 28 discovered around 12:30 p.m. that her bag, with her Brooklyn Law School ID, iPod, DVD player and cell phone, had been taken from the back of her chair.
A waitress at Zeytuna, 59 Maiden Ln., put her bag under a counter at the restaurant at 11 a.m. Mon., July 20 and discovered it missing at 3 p.m., police said. She found it in the bathroom, empty with $20 in cash and personal ID gone.
A patron of Aqua Grill, 210 Spring St. was talking with a man at the bar around 9 p.m. Wed., July 22, and left her bag on the floor beside her chair while she went to the women’s room. She returned to find that her bag, with $500 cash, iPhone, driver’s license and reading glasses, was gone and so was the man she had been talking with.
A patron of the Soho Grand bar at 310 Broadway put her bag on the stool beside her at 10 p.m. Tues., July 21, and two hours later found it had been stolen. She told police there were no unauthorized charges on her credit cards.
Lawyers’ guilty plea
David Resnick, 44, and Serge Binder, 39, pleaded guilty on Thurs., July 30 to failing to pay taxes on cash illegally received from a suspended lawyer who illegally practiced under their names in Lower Manhattan.
Resnick and Binder, Brooklyn personal injury lawyers, accepted $8,600 per month from May 2006 to August 2007 from Richard Boter and allowed him to practice under the name of Resnick and Binder at 139 Fulton St., according to the Manhattan District Attorney. Boter made the deal because he anticipated being disbarred in Sept. 2007 for stealing more than $148,000 from his clients, according to the District Attorney’s office.
Resnick and Binder were disbarred, forfeited the cash they received from Boter and were sentenced to five years probation.
— Albert Amateau