Church robbed before Christmas Eve
A man who walked into the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Little Italy on the afternoon of Dec. 24, took the poor box from in front of the altar to the rear of the church where he broke it open, took its contents estimated at $300 and fled, police said.
The church video surveillance camera recorded an image of the thief, described as a white or Hispanic man between the ages of 18 and 23, dressed in a gray jogging suit and wearing a baseball cap on top of a white bandana.
To make matters worse, a small figure of the Baby Jesus was stolen from the Nativity scene in front of the Most Precious Bloom rectory at 109 Mulberry St. sometime on Christmas Day.
Two years ago, on Jan. 6, 2004, a thief made off with the Baby Jesus figure from the same church Nativity display.
Motorcycle damage
A man who parked his 2003 Honda motorcycle at the northeast corner of Wall and South Sts. at 6:45 p.m. Mon. Jan. 9 found the bike’s wires had been cut when he returned an hour later, police said.
Wallet snatched
A man took his wallet out of the back pocket of his trousers when he was at the northeast corner of Grand St. and Sixth Ave. at 12:21 a.m. on Sun. Jan. 8 and lost it when a passing thief snatched it from his hand and fled, police said. The victim lost $40 in cash and credit cards but he cancelled his cards and there were no unauthorized charges, police said.
Sneaker shop grab
A woman shopping at the Puma shop at 521 Broadway just south of Spring St. at 5:10 p.m. Monday Jan. 9 was trying on a pair of sneakers and when she got up to look in a mirror, a thief grabbed the bag which she had placed next to her seat and fled, police said. The bag contained a cell phone, wallet, credit cards, an undisclosed amount of cash and a driver’s license issued in The Netherlands.
Lunchtime loss
A New Jersey resident discovered that her wallet had been stolen after she had paid her lunch check at about 2 p.m. Tues. Jan. 10 at Alfa Noon restaurant, 20 Broad St., police said. The victim discovered the loss after she got to her office in the same building but she was unable to say exactly where and when the wallet was stolen. Debit and credit cards and $30 in cash were stolen.
Bag gone
A female customer at Red, a Seaport restaurant, placed her bag next to her in a booth and found it was gone when she was about to pay her bill at 11 p.m., Thurs. Jan. 5, police said. She cancelled her credit cards but it was not in time to prevent an unauthorized $700 online Best Buy purchase, police said.
Bumped in stairs
A Brooklyn man leaving the Whitehall St. subway station at 3:15 p.m. Tues. Jan. 10 was bumped a couple of times on the stairs to the street and discovered that his wallet had been stolen from his right rear pocket, police said.
Soup’s on
A patron at the Hale & Hearty Soups at 110 Maiden Lane told police she had placed her bag at her feet while at lunch on Tues. Jan. 10 and found it missing at 1:30 p.m. when she was about to leave. The victim said she was sitting near the restaurant bathrooms and many people had passed her but she did not see anyone take the bag, police said.
—Albert Amateau
WWW Downtown Express
