Mechanic steals Maserati
A Florida man’s Maserati was stolen from a Tribeca parking garage last weekend when a former mechanic in the neighborhood was apparently able to pick it up and drive away with no questions asked, police reported.
The sports car, a 2012 black GranTurismo two-door sedan valued at $130,000, went missing from the Quik Park garage on 450 Washington St. at the corner of Desbrosses St., according to the police. It was picked up from the garage by an auto body shop worker whom police only identified as James. Police say James claimed the Maserati’s owner had asked him to take it for maintenance.
This was news to the owner, 52, who told police that he had left it at the garage at 3 p.m. on Friday, July 21 and then received notice that the car was gone at 11 a.m. on August 4. The garage’s manager told the N.Y.P.D. that “James” had come to the garage on Fri., August 2, saying that he had been asked to pick up the car for maintenance, presumably for his employer, Formula 1 Auto Body and Detailing. He drove the car out shortly after.
However, upon further investigation, police found that the thief was no longer employed at Formula 1, and had been fired on July 30. The Maserati had not been recovered by press time.
The manager of the Quik Park Garage told Downtown Express that he started working on Aug. 6 and the manager at the time was no longer working for the company.
Motorcycle theft
A vacationer returned to find his summer break had a higher price than anticipated when he realized his brand-new motorcycle was no longer in its parking spot.
The Battery Park City man, 45, told police that he had parked his 2013 Ducati Hypermotard motorcycle in front of 377 Rector Place at about 10 p.m. on Thurs., July 25. When he got home on July 30 at about 3:30 p.m., the motorcycle, valued at $17,000, was nowhere in sight. He said that the Auto Crimes division conducted a canvass for the stolen vehicle but did not turn up any leads.
Dancing the wallet away
A woman mistakenly gave her wallet away in a dark club when the person that she handed it to turned out to be a complete stranger.
The woman, 31, reported that she was dancing inside the Greenhouse bar and nightclub at 150 Varick on Mon., August 5. She had both her own belongings and those of a friend in her wallet, and was holding onto them while she danced. At about 1:30 a.m., the woman said that someone spilled a drink on her and she reflexively handed the wallet to her friend in the dark. However, the person that took the wallet was definitely not her friend. Immediately, she realized her error but could not see the imposter in the dark.
The $70 Juicy Couture wallet contained her $400 iPhone 4S, a credit card, a Washington State ID, a $31 MetroCard and her apartment keys. It also contained her friend’s credit cards, Washington State driver’s license and MetroCard.
The woman checked the lost and found and tried to use the “Find My Phone” app, but the device was offline, police said.
Bagel theft bungled
A FiDi diner who ran off with the wallet of one of the employees in his hand was arrested on Monday, August 5, police reported. The employee, a 20-year-old woman, said that she had left her wallet in the seating area of her workplace, Long Island Bagel Cafe;’s flagship store at 125 Fulton St., while she was on break.
Sometime in the 10 minutes between 11:15 and 11:25 a.m., she noticed that her wallet was missing from her purse while searching for her phone charger. At 12:15 p.m., the manager of the cafe checked the video surveillance and saw a man pick up the employee’s wallet and leave the cafe with it. He sent two employees after the thief and they were able to catch up with him.
The man, who police identified as David King Jr., came back to the location but did not have the wallet on his person at that point, police said. He promised to go get it and be back in 15 minutes, but did not return to the cafe, the employee told police. King, 37, was arrested and charged with grand larceny, but the police did not state whether the wallet, containing $315 cash, was recovered.
Benz break-in
A smash and grab on a Soho street last weekend resulted in loss of property and damage to the owner’s Mercedes, according to police.
A 22-year-old woman called police on 4:50 a.m. on Sun., August 4 to report that her car had been broken into early that morning between 1:15 and 2:30 a.m. She said she had left her 2006 black Mercedes-Benz parked in front of 100 Charlton St. while she was at a club with friends. When they returned to her vehicle, the back window on the driver’s side had been shattered and the looter had made off with her friend’s purse, which was sitting on the floor beneath the driver’s seat. The $250 purse contained a wallet, ID, credit card, checkbook, car keys and a $150 silver iPod touch in a pink case.
Teens arrested in subway
Police arrested two teens who were charged with robbery for threatening a woman on the subway and attempting to take her handbag.
The teens, a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, were apprehended on Tues., July 30 after a woman reported to police that they had threatened her and pulled at her purse. According to police, the woman, 64, was on a southbound E train at the Canal St. station at 4:55 a.m. when the two approached her.
She said the boy told her, “I have a knife. I will kill, kill them all,” while his partner attempted to take her bag.
He did not display any kind of weapon, but police did locate a knife on the southbound roadbed.
— KAITLYN MEADE
