19th Precinct
Knife threat
A man was arrested for threatening to stab a Walgreens employee on May 5, according to police.
Cops were called at around 6:15 p.m. when a man whipped out a knife and threatened to stab an employee, 29, and her co-workers if they did not stop following him throughout the store.
According to police, when officers arrived at the location, at 1328 Second Ave., at E. 71st St., the man stepped toward the employee while reaching for a knife in his back pocket.
Officers were able to disarm him before anyone was harmed.
Takeout
Island Restaurant, at 1305 Madison Ave., at E. 93rd St., was robbed on May 5, police said.
A roughly 20-year-old man walked into the place through the front door around 9:37 a.m. Although Island was not open for business, the door was open. He swiped an iPhone 6s worth about $150, plus $2.50 worth of quarters from the cash register.
Crooked game
A phone scammer posing as an AppleCare employee swindled a 70-year-old woman out of $7,000 on May 20, police said.
According to police, the phony AppleCare caller convinced the victim that she had pornography on her computer and that, in order to get rid of it, she had to buy GameStop and Google Play gift cards.
She purchased four GameStop cards for $500 each and 10 Google Play cards, also for $500 each.
OJ assault
Police say they are looking for a couple who attacked a woman and beat her with a large bottle of orange juice.
On May 21, a customer at Blue Moon Deli & Grocery, at 1773 First Ave., near E. 92nd St., turned around and asked a male customer if she could get him anything while she was checking out at the cash register.
“Bitch, I don’t want you. I got a girl and don’t look at me,” he reportedly responded.
According to police, the woman tried to calm down the irate man by saying, “It’s O.K.” and “Not that serious.”
But the woman was then punched in the face by the man’s girlfriend, who was standing beside him. The man then joined in the attack and, at one point, picked up a large plastic bottle of Tropicana orange juice and repeatedly hit the woman over the head with it.
After beating the woman, the couple snatched her $1,200 iPhone XR from her hand and $250 from her right front pants pocket before fleeing.
When police arrived at the deli, the victim complained of head pain and was taken to Metropolitan Hospital Center by ambulance.
Ballet theft
A ballet teacher’s laptop was stolen while she was at work on May 20.
According to police, the instructor left her pink MacBook unattended in her office at The Ballet Club, at 328 E. 61st St., at 2:30 p.m. When she returned to the office at 3:20 p.m., the laptop was gone.
The instructor checked footage from the dance school’s security camera and spotted an unknown man walking into her office and filching the computer.
Midtown North
Scooter stabber
An argument on the street turned physical at 835 Eighth Ave., between W. 50th and W. 51st Sts., according to police.
On Sun., May 19, at 11 p.m., a 56-year-old man got into a dispute with a man riding an electric scooter. Things escalated into a physical altercation, and the scooter rider stabbed the other man in the abdomen with an unknown object, causing a small laceration.
The attacker fled on his scooter westbound on 51st St. An E.M.S. ambulance transported the victim to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. Police released surveillance video of the suspect, who is described as 20 to 30 years old, and last seen wearing a dark hoodie and camouflage pants.
20th Precinct
Medication pattern
Police say they are looking for a couple who stole nearly $1,500 worth of medication from a Duane Reade on April 15.
According to police, the pair entered the chain drugstore’s 4 Amsterdam Ave. location, at W. 59th St., at 9:09 p.m. and removed $500 worth of Flonase spray bottles, $320 worth of bottles of Pepcid AC tabs, $380 worth of Mucinex DM tabs and $260 worth Zantac tabs.
Cops say there has been a citywide pattern of these particular items being stolen. There is currently a citywide investigation ongoing.
Century 21 shoplifter
A man tried to rob the Century 21 department store at 1972 Broadway, at W. 66th St., on May 9.
According to police, at 1:20 p.m., a 29-year-old man shopping in the store began switching the tags on expensive items with cheaper ones and tried to exit the place’s back door with $1,141.35 worth of clothing.
The Brooklyn native was stopped by an employee and returned the goods, including a $20 Billionaire Boys Club hat, $340 Versace Collection jacket, $260 Versace Collection pants, and two Versace
Collection sweaters, one costing $130 and the other $300.
Police arrested the attempted shoplifter.
Bad show
A 71-year-old woman had her bag stolen during a show at Lincoln Center on May 16.
After taking her seat in the Lincoln Center Atrium at 7 p.m., the victim placed her purse on the floor to the left of her feet. About 30 minutes into the performance, she looked down and realized the purse was gone. Her $150 sunglasses, along with a wallet containing multiple credit cards and $4,000 in cash were taken, along with the $2,000 Burberry handbag.
The next day, a stranger came to the woman’s building on West 66th St., and returned her wallet. All of the credit cards were inside but the $4,000 in cash was gone.
Bike rustler
A bicycle thief is targeting 100 Freedom Place, in the Riverside South complex.
On May 11, a resident reported his $2,000 Cannondale Trail bike missing from the building’s bike room at 4:30 p.m.
On May 17, a resident went to the bike room and noticed his $690 Giant Express 150 bicycle was damaged and that his $1,200 Giant Escape N150 bike had been stolen.
Time flies
A guest at a La Quinta Hotel on the Upper West Side had an expensive watch stolen on May 18.
According to police, at 5 p.m., the Belgian native left his stainless-steel Rolex Submariner watch on the nightstand in his room and left for work. When he returned to his room at the hotel, at 31 W. 71st St., at 5 a.m. the next morning, the $7,500 watch was missing.
Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
