Slash and rob
A gang of thugs attacked three victims in front of 111 South St. between Beekman St. and Peck Slip around 3:50 a.m. Sat., Aug.6, knocked them to the ground and slashed them with box cutters, police said. The victims, who were leaving a bar around closing time, lost their wallets during the attack.
Battery Park City robbery
A Brooklyn woman, 28, who had just finished delivering newspapers to the residential building at 400 Chambers St. in Battery Park City shortly after 5 a.m. Sun. Aug. 7, was waylaid on North End Ave. by two robbers who took her necklace, valued at $400 and earrings, valued at $300, police said. “If you scream I’ll punch you in the mouth,” said one of the suspects.
Fulton St. burglaries
A resident of 139 Fulton St. between Nassau and Broadway left her apartment around 12 p.m. Wed. Aug. 3, and returned at 7:30 a.m. the following day to find the place had been ransacked. Police said the only entry, the front door, was locked and not damaged. Jewelry, cameras and other items with a total value of $8,000 were stolen.
Two days later, a security guard at 139 Fulton St. confronted an intruder in the building who had entered multiple apartments and was piling up loot, police said. Ahmad Tucker, 29, was arrested and changed with burglary and larceny.
Guilty plea in 1993 rape
Alberto Barriera, 47, being held in Virginia on a drug charge, pleaded guilty on Aug. 3 to the rape 17 years ago of a 16-year-old girl as she entered the building where she lived on the Lower East Side.
Barriera took money and jewelry from the victim on Dec. 18, 1993 then choked her and raped her, according to a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney.
Although DNA evidence was collected at the time, Barriera’s identity was not known and it wasn’t until 2003 that his DNA was entered in the national data bank and a grand jury indicted him under his DNA profile. That indictment stopped the clock on the statute of limitations, said a spokesperson for District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Barriera is expected to be sentenced on Aug. 17 to 20 years in prison for the rape after he serves his Virginia drug sentence.
Pot bust after fire
Fire that broke out at 68 Thompson St. between Broome and Spring Sts. shortly before 2 a.m. Fri., Aug. 5, went to three alarms, forced residents to flee the seven-story tenement and caused smoke inhalation injuries to 10 firefighters. Fire marshals investigating the cause of the blaze found “a large quantity” of marijuana in Apt. 15 and alerted police who arrested the tenant, Jennifer Tzar, 44, identified in the media as a photographer of Rock performers. Tzar was charged with first degree criminal possession of marijuana. Firefighters received the alarm at 1:53 a.m. and arrived at the scene six minutes later. Thirty-three pieces of apparatus and 138 firefighters responded to the call. Residents of the adjoining building at 72 Thompson St. were also evacuated but returned later after their building was deemed safe.
Soho Park robbery
Two suspects mugged a man who was reading a book on a bench in Soho Park at the corner of Dominick St. and Sixth Ave. around 4:40 p.m. Sun., Aug. 7, police said. One of the suspects held the victim from behind in a chokehold and the other grabbed the victim’s bag from the bench. Both robbers fled west on Dominick St. to Varick St.
Cell phone snatch
A man tried to engage a woman, 17, in conversation while she was talking on her cellphone in front of 327 Canal St. near Mercer St. around 6:45 p.m. Tues., Aug. 2, grabbed her phone, put it in his pocket and fled, police said.
Cellphone snatch arrest
A woman employee of the building management at 277 Broadway at Chambers St. confronted a man who grabbed her cellphone around 12:40 p.m. Fri., Aug. 5, blocked his escape from the office and called for help. Two fellow employees apprehended Omar Williams, 40, and held him for police.
Shoplifters
Two men who entered the Helmut Lang shop at 90 Mercer St. between Broome and Spring Sts. around 3:50 p.m. Thurs. Aug. 4, took a black fur jacket valued at $2,495, tucked it into a bag and left without paying for it, police said. An employee told police that one of the two men did buy and pay for another article of merchandise. And another employee remembered that the two were wearing tan suits and had been at the store the day before.
Two men who visited the Ralph Lauren boutique at 109 Prince St. around 11:30 a.m. Fri., July 29, made their way to the basement where one of them grabbed a Longines Diver Auto watch valued at $7,500, put it in his pocket and walked out without paying for it, police said.
Two men walked into the Duane Reade at 95 Wall St. around 11:30 a.m. Thurs. Aug. 4, went to a perfume display case and put 62 bottles of perfume and Cologne with a total value of $2,079 in a bag and walked out without paying for them. An employee told police the case was open but should have been locked.
Motorcycle theft
A man who parked his motorcycle in front of his building at 27 Harrison St. around midnight on Wed., Aug. 3, returned at 8:30 a.m. and found it had been stolen.
Bicycle gone
A Union City, N.J. woman, 25, locked her Trek bicycle valued at $1,393 at a rack at 75 Varick St. near Canal St. around 4:30 p.m. Tues., Aug. 8 and returned at 6:20 p.m. and found it had been stolen.
