Grand Larceny: Hot plastic, free wheels
At approximately 6:20pm on Sun., Aug. 4, two 22-year-old females were arrested by officers of the 10th Precinct, thanks to one sharp-eared 33-year old man who overheard the ditzy duo loudly discussing their impending criminal exploits. The jig was up shortly after the scene went down — when the witness observed the women at a Citi Bike docking station (on 10th Ave., btw. W. 42nd & W. 43rd Sts.). While navigating the particulars of renting a pair of bikes, one of the perps stated that the Visa debit card they were about to use did not belong to them. The witness alerted police, who found the card in their possession and put the kibosh on their two-wheeled travels.
Grand Larceny: Pilfered by new online pal
What’s the world coming to when you can’t hook up with a total stranger you met online, leave them unattended in your apartment while you’re taking a shower and then emerge some time later with a fresh face, a good attitude and the chance to use your $1,000 Apple Notebook to troll cyberspace for some new friends? That’s what a 37-year-old West Chelsea resident may well have been asking himself — after experiencing the above scenario. The victim, who returned from his shower to find his online paramour about to make a quick exit — noticed the new friend had a bag (only realizing later that the bag contained the pricey laptop). Also stolen: two credit cards, on which three unauthorized charges were made, in the amounts of $15.97, $70.75 and $11.76. The victim cancelled the credit cards, perhaps while contemplating a return to the brick and mortar world of speed dating.
Grand Larceny: Bag in seat storage space didn’t sit still
The sudden disappearance of $20 in cash and a Chase Sapphire credit card paled in comparison to loss of the pricey container they came in. During the late hours of Sat., Aug. 3, a 30-year-old was socializing at the Dream Hotel’s PH-D rooftop nightclub (355 W. 16th St., btw. Eighth & Ninth Aves). She placed her purse in a seat storage space — then returned three hours later, to find the black leather Chanel handbag (valued at $1,500) missing. Although camera footage of the incident was available, a canvass of the area by hotel security yielded negative results.
Petty Larceny: Rooftop thefts made in ‘shades’
A 34-year-old Manhattan man was divorced from two sets of specs, when he attended a Sat., Aug. 13 wedding reception held on the rooftop of Studio 450 (450 W. 31st St., btw. Ninth & 10th Aves.). Unphased by the noonday sun, the victim placed his peeper protectors down on a bench at around 12pm. When he returned 20 minutes later, the two pairs of Tom Ford and Ray-Bay sunglasses (valued at $400 and $75 respectively) were gone. Other guests also reported having personal items removed from the same location.
Forgery: I do it to go through tolls!
Maybe he just wanted to avoid having his movements tracked by we-can-read-a-matchbook-from-space NSA spyware — but a 48-year-old driver couldn’t escape the scrutiny of a few old-fashioned eyeballs. Uniformed officers of the 10th Precinct noticed something fishy about a 2003 Kia, as it made its way down 16th St. at around 8pm on Sat., Aug. 3. There was no license plate on the rear of the vehicle, and electrical tape covered decals that would identify the make. “I do it to go through tolls,” the defendant told police, who found the vehicle’s Florida plate in the front of the car shortly before hauling him off to jail (in a clearly marked NYPD cruiser).
—Scott Stiffler
