Arrest in knifepoint robbery
Police arrested a 43-year-old man on Jan. 1 after they say he and two accomplices attacked a man and stole his cell phone and wallet near City Hall.
The victim told cops he was walking east on Beekman St. around 1 a.m., when Young and two other men threw him down to the ground, pulled a knife and forced him to give up the goods. The victim wasn’t injured, and was able to provide police with descriptions of the muggers while filing a report immediately after the incident.
Police say the same three men reportedly committed a similar crime in the Chinatown area minutes later, and they were then able to track down and apprehend one of the suspects near Lafayette St., although his two alleged accomplices got away with the stolen property and the knife.
The defendant was charged with robbery.
Late-night burglaries
A burglar swiped $100 from a Tribeca business this week during an overnight break-in, police said.
The owner of Modern Martial Arts, at 78 Reade St., told cops that he closed up shop at 9 p.m. on Jan. 6 — and when he returned 9 a.m. the next day to open, he found that the cash had been removed from the register, although there were no signs of forced entry. Using video surveillance footage taken at the scene, police saw that the perp was a man with a flashlight, but they have no other leads at this point.
And days before that, another burglar made off with $1,700 after breaking into a Financial District restaurant, police said.
Shortly after midnight on Jan. 2, the unknown man bashed open the front door of Obao, at 38 Water St., jumped over a counter and took the cash from two registers, according to video footage recovered from the restaurant.
Gym locker thief
A thief got away with $420 in cash after busting open lockers at a gym in the Financial District, police said.
Four men told cops they were working out in Planet Fitness, at 25 Broadway, between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 6, and had secured their belongings in the gym’s locker room. When they were finished exercising, they found that all of their locks had been broken, and the three of them who had brought cash discovered it was gone.
Tourists targeted
A thief targeted two European tourists as they were walking through Tribeca on Jan. 3, police said.
The men from Denmark were carrying a bag that held their cash ($900) and jackets, and reportedly placed it on the ground at the corner of W. Broadway and Leonard St. around 6 p.m., as they checked their cell phones, possibly looking up directions, according to cops. While they were occupied with their phones, the swift and silent thief snatched up the bag and was gone so quickly that the victims never got a good look at them.
Diamond snatch
A fleet-footed man stole two pairs of diamond earrings from a Tribeca jeweler on Jan. 2, police said. An employee for Korner Jewelry, at 165 Church St., told cops that the unidentified man, reportedly in his 30s, walked into the store around 1 p.m. and asked to view the earrings, collectively valued at $2,500. When the employee removed them from the display case and allowed the man to check them out, he reportedly turned and dashed out of the store, fleeing out onto the street in an unknown direction.
Unattended bag
An unfortunate woman’s purse was stolen on Jan. 5 after she left it unattended in the Tribeca Barnes & Noble, police said.
The woman and her husband were looking at books and magazines in the 97 Warren St. store around 4 p.m., after which she left the bag hanging off the back of a chair while the couple was busy making a purchase, according to cops. When they returned moments later to pick it up, the purse was gone.
Witnesses spotted a man carrying the stolen bag as he left the store and fled west on Warren St., but no arrests were made.
Impersonating city workers
Two sneaky thieves posed as city sanitation workers in order to rip off a bar near the South Street Seaport on Dec. 30, police said.
An employee of Fresh Salt, at 146 Beekman St., told cops that, while opening up around 8:30 a.m., the two men appeared outside and stated they would write the bar a ticket if the garbage out front wasn’t cleaned up immediately. When the employee walked outside to pick up the trash, one of the alleged thieves dashed inside and grabbed $400 in cash from under the register, after which both robbers fled the scene, police said.
—Sam Spokony
