Grand thefts auto
A Tribeca resident reported his car was stolen on Sun., Nov. 11 after he had parked it right outside his own building.
The man, 40, told police he parked the 2000 Audi A4 outside his apartment on Greenwich Street, between Canal and Watts Streets, at around 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 10. When he was walking outside the next day at around 11 a.m., he realized it was gone.
Later on Nov. 11, a St. John’s University student reported his motorcycle was lifted from another parking spot in Tribeca.
The student, a 21-year-old Brooklyn man, told police he had parked the 2012 Honda bike on Harrison Street, between West and Greenwich Streets, at around 11 a.m. that day before going to class at the university’s Manhattan campus on Murray Street. When he returned to the spot at 7 p.m., after classes finished, he saw that an unknown perp had swiped the motorcycle without a trace of evidence.
And on Tues., Nov. 6, yet another grand theft auto was reported — this one in Bowling Green.
A Long Island man, 61, told police he had parked his 2004 BMW X5 on Beaver Street, between Broad and William Streets, at around 8 a.m. before going to work. After returning at 7 p.m. from his day at the office, he faced the same result as in the other two cases — no car, no evidence, no chance of catching the unknown perp. But it was even worse for this victim, because he also lost a $3,000 paycheck that was stashed in the car, according to the police report.
Ferry terminal thief
Two women were victims of a slick thief who targeted the Staten Island Ferry terminal early on Sat., Nov. 10.
One of the women, 22, told police that at around 5 a.m., she left her purse with her 21-year-old friend for a few minutes while getting up to walk around the terminal’s second floor. But when she came back several minutes later, the bag was gone, and the friend said she hadn’t seen anyone pass by.
It was bad luck for both of them, since both had stashed valuables in the purse, including debit cards, drivers licenses, MetroCards and cash. The perp remains on the loose, but the 22-year-old woman told police that a $12 purchase was made with her debit card in Staten Island before she was able to cancel it.
Secondhand shoplifters
A co-ed tag team of shoplifters hit an upscale Tribeca thrift shop on Sat., Nov. 10 and made off with two pricey purses.
A female employee of Second Time Around, at 111 Thompson St., told police that a man and woman entered the store at around 6:30 p.m., quickly snatched the purses — a $500 Chanel and a $700 Dior — and fled out the door. She also said that the perps — he was described as black, 40 years old, approximately 6’2’’ and 180 pounds, and she was described as black, 30 years old, approximately 5’5’’ and 140 pounds — jumped into a tan Lincoln Town Car to make their getaway. The employee didn’t get a good enough look at the license plate to jot down the information.
Robbed, but got it back
A Philadelphia woman was robbed in Tribeca on Thurs., Nov. 8, but she was luckily — and strangely — able to recover her property after the perp left it behind.
The woman, 28, told police she was walking down Sixth Avenue, between Lispenard and Walker Streets, and talking on her cell phone at around 8 p.m. when an unknown man approached her. After surprising her, he grabbed her neck, hit her in the head and ripped her purse away, she said.
The perp — whom the woman described as a black man, approximately six feet tall and 180 pounds — was able to flee the scene, but when cops canvassed the area later they found the purse sitting outside a building on the same block, with no items missing. They also inexplicably found one black sneaker that they believe belonged to the perp, according to the police report.
Subway snatchers
A violent robber attacked a woman on the subway just as their train pulled into a station in the Financial District on Tues., Nov. 6, leaving her with bloody cuts and without her cell phone.
The woman, 24, told police she was riding a northbound A train, and, upon reaching the Fulton Street stop at around 3 p.m., an unknown man approached her and tried to grab the phone out of her hand. When she resisted, the perp — described only as a man, approximately 5’5’’ — used added force, tearing the phone away hard enough to cut her hands without the use of a weapon, police said. Once he had the phone, the perp fled onto the platform and up to the street.
On Mon., Nov. 5, another woman was targeted on the subway by a less violent but equally successful thief, who silently snatched her wallet and a $3,000 necklace.
The woman, 38, told police that she took the No. 1 train southbound from 14th Street and that all her belongings had been securely zipped within her backpack. But when she walked out of the Canal Street station, the wallet and the diamond necklace were gone.
Cops found that the unknown perp tried to use the woman’s debit card to purchase a MetroCard — the report didn’t say where — but they couldn’t track the perp any farther than that.
— By Sam Spokony
