Grand Larceny: Taken for a ride
A 50-year-old California man luckily lived to regret ignoring that childhood advice about not taking rides from strangers. Standing outside of G Lounge (225 W. 19th St., btw. 7th & 8th Aves.) at around 5:45am on Sun., Aug. 18, he struck up a conversation with two men who offered him a ride back to his hotel. He accepted — and by the time the red four-door sedan arrived at the corner of 21st St. & 8th Ave., the victim had been robbed and dragged from the vehicle. Unable to provide a description of the perps due to intoxication, the victim did recall sitting in the back seat, having his wallet removed and then falling asleep during his two-block trip. In addition to the wallet (whose contents included $250 in cash, several credit cards and a CA driver’s license), the victim’s T-Mobile cell phone was also forcibly removed from his person.
Burglary: Window was closed, but not locked
A resident of the W. 400 block of 37th St. left his apartment early on a recent Friday morning, and returned late in the afternoon to find his bedroom window open. The contents of his drawers and closet were all over the bed. In the victim’s complaint, he noted that he did not leave his window open, nor did he place any belongings on his bed prior to leaving — and nobody else (other than a housekeeper five years in his employ) had access to the apartment. In a final, telling detail, the complaint also contained a statement from the victim that the closed window was left unlocked. That mistake resulted in the theft of his Apple laptop, valued at $400.
Petty Larceny: Two thefts of two-wheeled transportation
Do Citi Bike docking stations trump chains? Two victims might be contemplating a change from the private to the public sector, after their own $500 bikes were stolen. The first theft happened at 12:30pm on Sat., Aug. 17 — when a woman parked her bike at Pier 66 and went kayaking for 30 minutes. She returned to find that her bike (purchased only three weeks ago) had been stolen. The second theft happened within a two-hour time frame on Sun., Aug. 18. The victim, who locked his bike to a pole on the W. 400 block of 15th St. at around 1:30pm, returned to find the chain clipped and the frame stolen.
Assault: Dance floor fracas
After a night of dancing to the beat of pounding music, his head hurt — but it wasn’t from exhaustion or drinking. On Sat., Aug 17, a 24-year-old Saddle River, NJ resident was at Marquee (289 10th Ave., btw. 17th & 18th Sts.), enjoying some Manhattan nightlife. But by the time last call had come and gone (4:10am on Sun., according to police), he was regaining consciousness and nursing a laceration to the top right portion of his skull — after a 31-year-old man walked up to him on the dance floor and hit him with a beer bottle. The arresting officers, who charged the man with assault, did not note what motivated the defendant’s violent action, or if the victim had any interaction with him prior to the incident.
Vehicular Assault: Two strikes, one arrest
Two witnesses told officers of the 10th Precinct that at around 4:15am on Sat., Aug. 17, they saw the driver of a gray four-door sedan (with MA plates) strike a bicyclist who was riding on Sixth Ave., btw. W. 12th & W. 13th Sts. The driver, who also struck one of the witnesses, fled the scene — but was pulled over at W. 14th St. and Ninth Ave. The arresting officers noted that the 27-year-old defendant “had alcohol omitting from his breath,” was unsteady on his feet and told them that he left the scene because he was scared. He also told police that, prior to the incident, he “had a couple of shots.” The bicyclist, a 28-year-old man from Queens, sustained serious injuries and was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment.
Trouble lives on Dyer Ave.
Three recent incidents, all occurring on Dyer Ave. & W. 36th St., involved theft or damage. On Wed., Aug. 14, the owner of a vehicle (left parked and unattended for nearly 24 hours) returned to discover her driver’s side front window smashed. A GPS worth $200 (and its $20 charger) had been stolen, and all the glove box contents were thrown about. On Sun., Aug. 18, a driver returning to his black 2012 Chrysler Jeep found the front rear passenger window destroyed, and the molding damaged. The estimated cost of repair: $250. On the same day, nearby, another man returned to his car and found the driver’s side window broken. The glove box had been searched, and $2 in change was stolen from the cup holder.
—Scott Stiffler
